Courtesy of NCCU Athletics
| Statistics | 1 | 2 | OT | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
BALTIMORE, Md. — The North Carolina Central University (NCCU) men’s basketball team utilized efficient offense and stout defense to fly past Coppin State University with a 64-59 wire-to-wire road victory on Monday night.
NCCU opened with a blistering 14-2 run, sprinting out to a 20-6 lead. After the scorching start, the Eagles went cold for roughly five minutes. In that same time span, CSU was able to create some offense and cut the deficit to two (22-20). The final six minutes saw NCCU go on a 13-4 scoring run to go into the half with a 35-24 lead.
At the break, the maroon and gray shot 55.6% (15-27) from the field and hit four triples from behind the arc, while CSU shot 33.3% (8-24) from the field and hit two shots from long range.
NCCU controlled the action for most of the second half and held a 12-point lead (51-39) at the 8:34 mark. CSU quickly scored 12 unanswered to tie the game at 51 with 5:07 left in the contest.
The Eagles closed out the game with a 13-8 scoring run, charged by junior guard Justin Wright, who scored nine of the final 13 points for NCCU.
Overall, Wright hit eight of his 15 field goal attempts and five of his six free throw attempts to finish the night with a game-high 21 points. Additionally, he was one of three Eagles to snag at least nine rebounds to help NCCU create a 46-29 advantage on the glass.
Graduate student and former CSU forward Brendan Medley-Bacon finished the contest with 10 points and nine rebounds, while senior forward Kris Monroe scored nine points and grabbed 10 boards.
For CSU, Sam Sessoms led the way with 21 points, followed by Nendah Tarke and Justin Steers with 16 and 10 points, respectively.