Wright Gets Hot Late, NCCU Rallies to Beat DSU

DURHAM, NC — NCCU used a late rally to overcome a deficit as the North Carolina Central Eagles defeated the Delaware State Hornets 84-79 in overtime at McDougal-McLendon Arena.

NCCU appeared to be down and out by the middle of the second half, as they were down by as many as a dozen points with 4:41 remaining. However, Sophomore guard Justin Wright (Greenville, NC) made sure they pulled it out with a victory!

“Free throws have been a big error for our team this year and me making mine in the stretch was good for us,” Wright stated. On Delaware State, he commented, “They came to play and they played hard. They outplayed us during the first 16 minutes of the game, so congrats to them.” When going over their record, he explained, “In conference play in NCAA Division I College Basketball, the bottom seed can beat the top seed. It’s about who has the most energy, so when adversity hits, it has a different thing to it.”

Thanks to Wright’s game-high 32 points, where he went 8-for-9 in free throws, the North Carolina Central University Eagles (14-11 overall and 7-2 MEAC) needed to survive overtime at home in their victory over the Delaware State Hornets (2-21 overall and 0-10 MEAC), by the score of 84-79.

It was a battle throughout the game, where there were a total of 47 fouls and nine lead changes.

Coach Moton reflected, “A win is a win. We didn’t play the way we were supposed to play.” He added, “Hats off to Delaware State. They made it difficult for us. I didn’t feel like we were worthy of winning until the last end of the game. Sometimes, it’s best to be fortunate instead of being good the entire game. We take it!” He also pointed out, “It was an act of desperation. Desperate times call for desperate measures. We had to step up and play or we were going to lose.”

Eric Boone hit a jumper, to put NCCU on the board, with 17:45 in the 1st Half. That was the initial basket for the Eagles. Prior to this, John Stansbury, the Senior Guard from New Castle, DE, scored the first basket of the game with a three-pointer at 18:48 in the first half.

Delaware State controlled the contest throughout the first half, as they led 31-27. It was due to baskets from Myles Carter (Fifth-year Senior Guard – Philadelphia, PA), D’Marco Baucum (Junior Forward – Washington, DC), Martaz Robinson (Sophomore Guard – Owings Mills, MD), and Dominik Fragala (Senior – Chantilly, VA).

During the second half, NCCU overcame a twelve-point deficit, thanks to free throws from Eric Boone (Redshirt Junior Forward – Lexington, KY), Marque Maultsby (Junior Guard – Raleigh, NC), and Nicolas Fennell (Redshirt Senior Guard – Bowie, MD). In addition to the free throws, Wright made two three-pointers down the stretch to send the game to an extra session, with the game tied at 73.

The overtime period started off with free throws from Fragala, as Delaware State led 75-73. Then, Fennell, Boone, and Wright made free throws, along with a jumper from Maultsby helped the Eagles pull out a victory.

The leading scorer for Delaware State was John Stansbury, who recorded 26 points with 8-for-12 shooting and 7-for-9 free throws. Also, Myles Carter (23 points) and bench player Dominik Fragala added 14 points.

North Carolina Central University returns home for a Monday Night showdown against Maryland-Eastern Shore at 7 PM, while Delaware State travels to Orangeburg, SC to face South Carolina State at a 7:30 PM showdown that same night.