N.C. Central 3-Peats as MEAC Tournament Champions
NORFOLK, V.A. – The North Carolina Central University Eagles clawed their way back in the second half against the Norfolk State University Spartans, after being down 10 at halftime, to seal their third consecutive MEAC Tournament title and book their ticket to the big dance.
Eagles Head coach LeVelle Moton walked back to the locker room down 32-22. His team shot 8-21, 38.1 percent, from the floor; misfired on all nine of their 3-point attempts; and had three assists to 12 turnovers.
“I was extremely disappointed in our execution in the first half,” Moton said. “I can’t say publicly what I told the guys in the locker room, but we just had to do a better job of executing.”
The Eagles flipped a switched in the second half. The Eagles bench stood up, probably more than they were supposed to; slapped the floor; and got in their teammates’ faces when they came off the court. For the players on the court, they out hustled the Spartans in every aspect of the game to win 50-47.
Eagles sophomore guard Jordan Perkins answered the bell coming out of halftime. He scored five points on the Eagles’ 12-2 run to tie the game at 34 with 16:05 left.
The Spartans played a box-and-one on Davis early in the second half, this gave Eagles senior forward Zacarry Douglas room to operate on the weak side of the paint. He finished as the Eagles’ only double-digit scorer with 10 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for a double-double.
Another player who delivered for the Eagles was MEAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player Raasean Davis. The Eagles ran their offense through the redshirt senior center, and he changed multiple shots at the rim on defense. He finished the game with eight points, 14 rebounds and two blocks. His defensive presence played a major role late as the Eagles went scoreless in the last 4:03 of the game.
“Defense wins game anyways,” said Davis. “As long as we were locked in on the defensive end, and limit them to one shot. That was really one of our main focuses too. They are a good team as far going and getting it off of the offensive glass. So that was one of our key things, making sure they didn’t get multiple chances.”
N.C. Central outrebounded Norfolk State 41-29 and limited the Spartans to five offensive rebounds.
What’s Next
The Eagles await tomorrow’s Selection Sunday show to find out their next opponent in the NCAA Tournament. The show will be aired live at 6 p.m. on CBS. If the Eagles win their opening matchup in the NCAA Tournament. It will be their first in school history.
“It’s big,” Douglas said. “it would be the first one. We talk about it, especially me and big Sean, we just were talking about it walking in here. If we get this win, we know it will be a dog fight just like this game. And we just gotta take it one war at a time. We call’em wars: four minute segments. And we just gotta take it one war at a time and just come out with the win.”