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Sports

NCCU Shooting Woes Result in 77-71 Loss at Norfolk State

Phyllis Coley @phyllis_coley

NORFOLK, Va. – North Carolina Central University junior guard Justin Wright scored 21 points, but the Eagles shot just 20 percent from 3-point range and less than 40 percent from the field as NCCU men’s basketball suffered a 77-71 road loss at Norfolk State University on Monday night on ESPNU.

Wright connected on 7-of-11 from the floor, including 3-for-5 from long distance, while also grabbing six rebounds. Senior center Brendan Medley-Bacon tallied 17 points on 5-of-6 shooting with a team-best seven boards and two blocked shots. 

However, besides Wright and Medley-Bacon, the rest of the Eagles shot 11-for-41 from the field (26.8%) and 3-for-25 from 3-point land (12.0%).

Norfolk State led by as many as 13 points in the first half, but the Eagles trimmed the gap to just seven points, 34-27, at intermission.

NCCU took its first lead since the opening two minutes of the contest when Medley-Bacon converted a three-point play to put the Eagles ahead 38-36 at 16:51 of the second half.

The ensuing three minutes saw seven lead changes before the Spartans regained the advantage for good to give the Eagles a loss. NCCU managed to pull within three points (73-70) on a Wright triple with 44 seconds remaining, but Norfolk State (15-7, 5-2 MEAC) held on for the six-point victory.

NCCU (10-11, 3-4 MEAC) will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 11, hosting Morgan State University inside McDougald-McLendon Arena at 4 p.m.

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