Sports

The N.C. Central Eagles Advance to the Semifinals of MEAC Tournament

Landon Bost

NORFOLK, V.A. – The North Carolina Central University Eagles sparked a run at the end of the first half against the Delaware State University Hornets that fueled them to a victory in their first matchup of the MEAC Tournament tonight.

The No. 2 seed Eagles (16-15) only led the No. 11 seed Hornets (6-25) by four points, 20-16, with 7:58 left in the first half. However, the Eagles doubled Delaware State’s scoring and went into halftime with a 44-28 lead over the Hornets. In the first half, the Eagles shot 17-28, 60.7 percent, from the floor and 6-13, 46.2 percent, from the 3-point line.

The Hornets never recovered from that run, and the Eagles defeated them 75-57.

Eagles head coach LeVelle Moton
Eagles head coach LeVelle Moton

Impact Players

Randy Miller Jr., Eagles junior guard: Miller shined in his first MEAC Tournament performance. He shot 6-10 from the floor, 2-5 3FG, to be the game’s leading scorer with 18 points.

Larry McKnight Jr., Eagles redshirt senior guard: McKnight hit his two 3-pointers during the Eagles’ run late in the first half. He finished with 10 points, and five rebounds.

Raasean Davis, Eagles redshirt senior center: Davis shot 5-7 from the floor for 10 points and grabbed six rebounds.

Game Commentary

  • N.C. Central started the game with a lot of energy, however, had too many carelesserrors to start the game.
  • The Eagles had four players score in double-digits and eleven players record points.
  • Delaware State paid the Davis, the Eagles’ first team All-MEAC player, a lot of attention when he touched the ball in the post, this gave the guards room to operate on the perimeter.
  • The Eagles finished with 18 assists, but had 16 turnovers.

Quick Hits

Eagles junior guard Randy Miller Jr.
Eagles junior guard Randy Miller Jr.
  • Eagles redshirt junior guard John Guerra had five points in five minutes off the bench.
  • Third team All-MEAC Hornets guard Kevin Larkin finished led his team in scoring with 16 points.
  • Eagles senior forward Zacarry Douglas was the game’s leading rebounder with 12 boards and was one-point shy from a double-double.

Firsthand Perspective

“Hats off to the guys,” said Moton. “It’s nothing I did. They knew what they had to do, especially this time of year.”

“I was talking to John (Guerra) a little bit,” said Miller Jr., “and he was just telling me to ‘stay composed’. And he was like, “we gotta stay together and play defense’. And It was fun. It was fun to come out and get the win, and just play with my brothers. So, it was a good one.”

“Play within ourselves,” said Moton when asked about the balanced scoring. “This world has enough heroes, we don’t need anyone on the floor trying to be a hero. I’ve given these guys specific rules, and roles and responsibilities. It’s not to hurt them, or damage them; it’s just for the betterment of the team.”

Eagles sophomore guard Reggie Gardner Jr.
Eagles sophomore guard Reggie Gardner Jr.

What’s Next

The Eagles play the No. 2 seed North Carolina A&T Aggies for the third time this year tomorrow at 8 p.m. in the semifinals. A&T won both matchups this season, and the last game they routed the Eagles 74-52.

“I think one of the biggest things is ball-screen D which starts with me,” said Davis when asked about keys to the matchup with the Aggies. “I gotta be better. I wasn’t too good in that game on ball-screen defense. I’ll make sure I’ll be better tomorrow, but we have to rebound better and just execute, limit our turnovers: just the small things. As long as we do that, we give ourselves a pretty good chance to win.”