Game Notes: Toccoa Falls at NCCU (PDF)
NCCU Sports Network Broadcast Link (Tune in to the Champps Pregame Show at 6:45)
THE GAME
North Carolina Central University returns from the 2012 Global Sports Hoops Showcase where the Eagles finished 1-2, but were 20 minutes away from coming back to the Bull City 2-1 leading South Dakota 35-30 at the half. NCCU is back at home for the next three games before diving headfirst into MEAC (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) play to begin the month of December.
THE SERIES
NCCU and Toccoa Falls have never met on the hardwood. The visiting Eagles are meeting three NCAA Division I opponents in the 2012-13 campaign with the first being against NCCU followed by a Nov. 27 contest against Presbyterian followed up by a Dec. 13 matchup with the Chanticleers of Coastal Carolina University.
NCCU SPORTS NETWORK
Tune in to the Champps Pregame Show beginning at 6:45 p.m. as play-by-play voice Chris Hooks and NCCU Hall-of-Famer Joe Simmons get listeners ready for the first meeting between Toccoa Falls and NCCU. Fans can also tweet the radio crew by using the hashtag #NCCUMBB or sending a tweet to @NCCUAthletics
TOCCOA FALLS COLLEGE "EAGLES"
Toccoa Falls College is a full accredited, Christian liberal arts college in Toccoa, Ga., on the edge of the Piedmont region and in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The campus occupised 1,100 acres boredering the Chattahoochee National Forest and is the home of Toccoa Falls a 186-foot high waterfall. It is affiliated with the Christian and Missionary Alliance and is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) and the Association for Biblical Higher Education. In Athletics, the Eagles compete in the Division II level of the National Christian College Athletic Association and boast a successful tradition of excellence with the baseball program winning the National title in 2009, 2011, and 2012. Entering play on Tuesday night, Toccoa Falls is 2-4 on the season but is 2-1 away from its home gym the Lois Delany Gymnatorium. After starting the season 2-1 the Eagles have lost three straight contests including an overtime thriller to Warren Wilson College on Friday, Nov. 16. TFC is coming off a 4-14 record during the 2011-12 season, as they were led by Josh Barrett who averaged 21.4 points, 7.4 assists per ballgame for the Eagles. In Toccoa Falls first game of the year against North Greenville, Barrett led the Eagles with 17 points on 3-for-8 shooting from the outside. The sophomore also dished out four assists and came away with two steals in the loss.
UP NEXT
NCCU sprints into the second leg of the three-game homestand on Saturday, Nov. 24 at 1:00 p.m. against the Seahawks of Wagner College. The maroon and gray lost a heartbreaker last year 87-83 in Staten Island, N.Y. and will look to return the favor in the first doubleheader of the year at McDougald-McLendon Gym. Three days later, head coach LeVelle Moton and his squad take on Utah Valley University in the first of a home-and-home series this year. The Eagles will head out to Orem, Utah for a Saturday, Dec. 22 rematch.
LAST TIME OUT: SOUTH DAKOTA-81, NCCU-69 (NOV. 16, 2012)
LARAMIE, Wyo. – Leading 35-30 at the halftime break, the North Carolina Central University men’s basketball team ran into a red-hot University of South Dakota squad who shot 16-of-24 (66.7 percent) from the field in the second half finishing 10-for-24 from three-point range to outlast the Eagles 81-69 in the final day of the Global Sports Hoops Showcase inside the Arena-Auditorium in Laramie, Wyo. After a gritty first half in which there were six ties and three lead changes, NCCU held USD to 38.7 percent shooting (12-for-31) and led by five at 35-30. The Eagles outscored the Coyotes 12-4 over the final 4:50 to seemingly take momentum into the locker room. Junior Stanton Kidd (Baltimore, Md.) paced NCCU with 10 points and six boards, while Ray Willis had a productive six points and seven rebounds. The final 20 minutes were a different story as South Dakota came out firing on all cylinders to the tune of a 15-2 explosion in the first five minutes to turn a five-point maroon and gray lead into 10-point deficit at 47-37. From that point on, the Eagles had an uphill climb as the Coyotes were an astonishing 7-for-12 (58.3%) from three-point range after hitting just three in the first half and were a near-perfect 12-for-14 from the charity stripe in the second stanza. On the other hand, NCCU shot just 4-for-21 (19.0 percent) from three-point range and 15-for-23 from the foul line in the loss. NCCU continued to fight back, cutting the double digit deficit to four on a Jay Copeland (Suffolk, Va.) three-point play at 67-63, but USD’s Steve Tecker hit a clutch jumper to hold off the Eagle rally. Less than a minute later, Copeland was at the line shooting two, missed the second free throw and got the rebound, but Emanuel Chapman (Raleigh, N.C.) missed a jumper that would have cut the margin to three. South Dakota went on to stretch the advantage out to 12 and held on for the win. NCCU (2-3) was led in scoring by Copeland who recorded double figures for the first time as an Eagle who dropped in 18 points and a season-high seven rebounds, while Jeremy Ingram (Charlotte, N.C.) scored 17 points on 5-of-14 shooting. After a stellar first half, Kidd finished with 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting for the Eagles. Willis finished the night 3-for-10 from the field, scoreless in the second half. On a positive note, Chapman moved up the charts to No. 11 in career assists with five and current has 242 in his Eagle career. NCCU outrebounded USD 34-31, but the Coyotes turned 11 Eagle turnovers into 20 points in the win.
WILLIS GARNERS ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM HONORS
Ray Willis (Atlanta, Ga.) a senior guard for North Carolina Central University’s men’s basketball squad earned All-Tournament honors in the 2012 Global Sports Hoops Showcase hosted by the University of Wyoming as he led the Eagles averaging 15.3 points a game along with 8.7 rebounds. Willis joins South Dakota’s Tyler Flack, Southern’s Malcolm Miller on the squad, along with Wyoming’s Luke Martinez and Tournament MVP Leonard Washington. In the 73-60 loss to the host Cowboys of Wyoming, Willis scored a season-high 20 points on 6-of-10 shooting that included a 3-for-4 clip from the perimeter. He also ripped down eight rebounds and the Eagles hung with the Pokes from the Mountain West Conference. His 12-for-12 effort from the foul line against Southern University propelled the Eagles to the 59-55 win over the Jaguars where he ended the night with 20 points yet again, but nearly recorded his fifth double-double at NCCU with nine rebounds. Willis ended the showcase shooting 17-for-17 from the foul line and 3-for-6 (50.0 percent) from three-point range as NCCU ended the three game tournament with a 1-2 record. The Eagles led at the half against South Dakota but fell victim to a hot-shooting Coyote squad that missed just eight shots in the final 20 minutes.
2012 Global Sports Hoops Showcase All-Tournament Team
Tyler Flack-South Dakota
Ray Willis- NCCU
Malcom Miller- Southern
Luke Martinez- Wyoming
Leonard Washington- Wyoming
Tournament MVP: Leonard Washington- Wyoming
