DURHAM, N.C. — In a historic night for head coach LeVelle Moton, he led the North Carolina Central University men’s basketball team to a 102-50 victory over St. Andrews University on Friday for his 252nd win, passing Floyd Brown as the all-time winningest men’s basketball coach at NCCU. Brown coached NC Central from 1952-1970 finishing his career with a record of 251-194.
Senior Fred Cleveland Jr. led all scorers for a career-high of 30 points against the Knights. Cleveland assisted on four field goals and had four steals as well. Junior Timmy Adedire dominated the glass snatching a career and game high 14 rebounds to go along with seven points. The Eagles had five scorers in double-figures.
St. Andrews fought hard in the first half and kept pace with the Eagles. After trading buckets, NCCU was up 16-14 by the second media timeout. Cleveland got hot from beyond the arc, nailing 5-of-8 threes in the first 20 minutes of play, leading all scorers with 25 points.
Redshirt-senior Ja’Darius Harris scored five of his eight points in the first half from the free throw line. The lead grew as large as 16 points for NCCU before a fastbreak layup from SAU’s leading scorer Jalen McAfee-Marion ended the first half. NC Central had a 45-31 advantage going into halftime.
The Eagles already caused 11 of St. Andrews 26 turnovers in the first half, but the Knights had a six-point advantage over NC Central in the paint. Adedire finished his first 14 minutes on the court with eight rebounds before the second period.
NCCU stepped on the gas to take over the second half of the game as the Eagles only allowed 19 points the rest of the way. NC Central took advantage of turnovers that led to 37 points including 33 from fast breaks.
Juniors Keishon Porter and Kye Dickson showed their athleticism, both jamming slam dunks in the open floor off mistakes by the Knights. The duo scored 10 points each. Senior Emmanuel Izunabor contributed five points and seven rebounds in 22 minutes.
Harris ended his night with 16 points and five rebounds and Guy Fauntleroy scored 10 points in 14 minutes. Every player that touched the court for NCCU finished on the positive side of the plus-minus on Friday, ending the evening on a 14-2 run with the game decided. McAfee-Marion of St. Andrews had a team-high 16 points.
The Eagles will play one more game before the start of the new year as they host Longwood next Wednesday, Dec. 20 at 3 p.m.
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