Box Score

LeVelle Moton Postgame Comments vs. Delaware State

DURHAM, N.C. (NCCUEaglePride.com) – Missed opportunities were the name of the game in North Carolina Central University’s second home loss of the season as the Eagles missed a season-high 14 shots from the foul line despite Ray Willis’s (Atlanta, Ga.) career-high 28 points falling 76-70 on Saturday afternoon at McDougald-McLendon Gym in Durham, N.C.
 
NCCU came out strong through first six minutes grabbing an 11-5 lead after a Willis three-pointer with 13:39 remaining.  In fact, NCCU led 17-10 after a Karamo Jawara (Bergen, Norway) layup to give the maroon and gray their largest lead of the first half.
 
Over the next seven minutes, the Hornets picked up the pace and went on a run themselves to take the lead for good thanks to a 19-3 spurt to snatch a 29-20 lead with 4:37 remaining. 
 
During that span, the Eagles missed six shots, three free throws, and committed three turnovers to aid the hot-shooting Hornets.
 
Freshman guard Tahj Tate torched the nets for Delaware State to the tune of 14 first-half points on 4-for-8 shooting, while the Hornets turned the ball over just three times and collected five steals to take a 37-27 lead into the locker room. 
 
Willis paced the Eagles with 14 points in the first frame on 5-of-7 shooting from the outside.
 
The second half saw NCCU continue its resilient ways as senior Dominique Sutton (Durham, N.C.) scored the first four points to cut the Eagle deficit to six, but DSU answered with a Casey Walker three-pointer to keep the Hornets out in front. 
 
With 14:26 left in the game, Willis’s layup cut the margin to six, but once again the Hornets had an answer with a 9-0 run to pull back ahead by 15 at 55-40 with 11:24 to go.
 
Over the next 10 minutes, NCCU slowly but surely chipped away at the double-digit deficit cutting the margin to six one more time with 3:20 left at 67-61, but timely offensive possessions and clutch free-throw shooting kept DSU in the lead, despite NCCU’s stellar late game defense.
 
The Eagles cut the margin to four at 72-68 with 51 seconds left after a Sutton dunk, but DSU’s Kendall Gray hit both foul shots on the following possession to put the lead back at six at 74-68. 
 
With 21 seconds remaining after an NCCU defensive stop and Willis’s free throws, the Eagles full court pressure forced a turnover and senior Tramar Beaman (Williamstown, N.J.) barely missed an open three-point attempt that would have cut the margin to one as DSU held on for the 76-70 win.
 
NCCU, who entered Saturday’s affair atop the league in free throw percentage (71.9 percent) went a dismal 23-of-37 (62.2 percent) from the foul line giving Delaware State all the cushion they needed to earn its third conference win. 
 
Willis ended up with a career-high 28 points on 6-of-13 shooting that included the third-most free throws in a contest in school history as he went 15-for-19 (78.9 percent) from the charity stripe. 
 
Junior Ebuka Anyaorah (Suwanee, Ga.) finished with 14 points, including a 3-for-6 mark from the outside.
 
Delaware State was paced by Tate, who was held to six second half points to end up with 20 in the win.  Sophomore Casey Walker had 15 points, while Gray finished with 14, and senior Jay Threatt contributed with 11 points the in the Hornet win.
 
NCCU (9-11 overall, 3-4 MEAC) looks to end a three-game skid this Monday night, Jan. 30 against the University of Maryland Eastern Shore at 7:00 p.m. from McDougald-McLendon Gym.  The Hawks and the Eagles have met 31 previous times in school history.
 
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