Courtesy of NCCU Athletics
IOWA CITY, Iowa — North Carolina Central University and Southern University needed a second-helping of basketball to decide a winner.
The game went into overtime and NCCU helped itself to an 85-78 win on Thanksgiving Day. The Eagles shot over 80 percent in overtime at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa.
Senior C.J. Keyser led NCCU with a career-high 33 points.
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NCCU (1-1) and SU (0-1) were evenly matched in the first half, and both teams took turns going on runs. The Eagles sprinted ahead with an 11-0 run to lead 22-14 with 9:26 left in the first period, and held the Jaguars without a field goal for four minutes during that stretch. However, SU had the final attack before the first buzzer as it went on a 7-0 run in the closing minutes to take a 38-36 lead at the intermission.
Deven Palmer (Hyde Park, Mass.) followed Jamir Moultrie’s (Washington, D.C.) opening act from the season-opener against Iowa as he also made his first two three-pointers of the contest, and C.J. Keyser (Baltimore, Md.) supplied an energetic 15 points in the first 20 minutes of play for the Eagles.
The second half was a mixture of hot- and cold-streaks. NCCU held SU without a made field goal for over eight minutes in the closing stages of the second half, and Moultrie hit a critical three-pointer to send the Eagles ahead, 67-66 with under two minutes to play. The Jaguars responded with a three-pointer of their own to break the drought from Brendan Brooks (Dallas, Texas) to rocket SU ahead, 69-67 with just 20 seconds left. Keyser dug deep and hit a buzzer-beating layup for the Eagles to tie the game at 69, and send the game to an extra period.
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SU scored first in overtime, but the Eagles fired back quickly with an 8-0 run to sprint ahead, 77-71 with 2:58 left in the added frame. Keyser tallied seven points in overtime to help NCCU outscore Southern, 16-9, and secure a dramatic 85-78 victory for the first win of the campaign.
NCCU went 5-for-6 (83.3 percent) from the floor and from the free throw line in overtime, and also nailed its only three-pointer attempted in the period.
Keyser made 12 made field goals, and Moultrie followed with a season-high 15 points. Jordan Perkins (Greensboro, N.C.) also reached season-highs with 12 points, six rebounds, and four assists.
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SU was led by Ashante Shivers (Seat Pleasant, Md.) with a team-high 20 points, and Brooks followed closely with 17 points. Jayden Saddler (Aberdeen, Md.) added a near triple-double with 12 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists.
NCCU has now won four consecutive overtime games, continuing a run started last season with three overtime victories. That streak also includes an 83-82 triumph in a double-overtime tilt at South Carolina State on Feb. 29, 2020.
The Eagles will visit Wofford next on Dec. 3, as the team continues a six-game road trek to open the season.