NORFOLK, Va. – The NC Central men's basketball team concludes play at the 2025 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Basketball Tournament after falling behind by 29 points in the first half, ultimately dropping the semifinals match-up to No.2 South Carolina State 88-67 on Friday evening at the Scope Arena.
The six-seeded Eagles ended their season with a 14-19 record and one win shy of the championship game.
After tying up the game 2-2 to open the contest, SC State went on a 23-2 run until senior Timmy Adedire cashed in two free throws to break the run. It would take more than half the first period to get into double digits after a dunk from Perry Smith Jr. made the score 31-11 at the 8:16 mark.
SC State utilized a fullcourt press in the beginning of the game making it hard for NCCU to have time to fully run its offense once the Eagles got into halfcourt.
At the half, SCSU led 54-25 for its largest lead. Through the first 20 minutes, no Eagle was in double figures as Smith came the closest with nine points. SCSU's Omar Croskey led the Bulldogs with 19 points in the first half.
NCCU came out in the second half more settled and went on a 16-5 run. Junior guard Po'Boigh King started to get hot from distance as he made three of the four NC Central three-pointers as well as three free throws after being fouled beyond the arc.
Smith scored 11 more points in the second half, finishing with 20 as the leading scorer for the Eagles with King right behind, totaling 18. Smith was one rebound shy of his fifth double-double this season. Senior Keishon Porter tallied 11 points.
The Eagles shot a better percentage in the final 20 minutes going 14-of-28 from the field and also held the Bulldogs to 9-of-19 in that span.
Even though NCCU outscored SCSU 42-34 in the second half, the first half lead was too much to overcome as the Maroon and Gray were denied a chance to play in Saturday's MEAC Championship game, falling 88-67 to South Carolina State.
SCSU's Croskey finished with 30 points in a little over 23 minutes to lead all scorers. The Bulldogs also outscored the Eagles 43-10 in bench points and 19-5 in second chance points.
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