NCCU Takes Top Spot in CIAA West with Win Over JCSU

DURHAM, NC - North Carolina Central University captured the top spot of the CIAA Western Division with an upset victory over Johnson C. Smith University, 84-78, inside McLendon-McDougald Gym in Durham, NC.

NCCU senior guard Corey Tabron topped four Eagles in double-figures with a season-high 21 points. Senior guard Shawn Ray chipped in 14 points, including his 1,000th career point as an Eagle with 6:32 left in the first half, while Curtis Knight and Anthony Moore added 10 points each for NCCU (10-9 overall, 5-3 CIAA, 4-1 CIAA West).

JCSU (14-6 overall, 7-3 CIAA, 4-2 CIAA West) was topped by Marco Spears with a game-high 23 points, while Vernon Benjamin contributed 20 points in defeat.

NCCU enjoyed its largest advantage of the contest when Knight hit a jumper with 6:32 left in the game to put the Eagles up 68-53.

The Golden Bulls then patiently outscored the Eagles 23-11 over the next six minutes and cut the deficit to 79-76 with a pair of free throws by Spears with 44 seconds remaining.

Ray answered with two free throws of his own with 39 ticks left, before Spears responded with a dunk 10 seconds later to make the score 81-78.

JCSU, however, missed its final four shot attempts, while the Eagles added three free throws to seal the victory.

"We showed up to play and played hard for 40 minutes," said Eagles head coach Phil Spence. "We showed a lot of heart and character out there tonight. This win gives us a lot of confidence."

"I thought Central was definitely more competitive than we were tonight," said Golden Bulls head coach Steve Joyner. "We turned it up offensively in the second half, but we gave up too many points defensively. The 20 turnovers hurt us too."