After falling in a nailbiter against Norfolk State in February, North Carolina Central returned the favor in a 91-87 overtime win on Monday night in the last home date of the regular season.
Senior guard Keishon Porter finished with a team-high 24 points and grabbed five rebounds. Po’Boigh King added 18, Dionte Johnson, Jaqai Murray and Isaac Parsons each had 10 points in the win.
Junior Perry Smith Jr. grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds, helping lead the charge as the Eagles outrebounded Norfolk State 35-26.
NCCU (13-17, 6-7 MEAC) has now won two straight games completing its home schedule with a 10-4 record.
“It’s good basketball for you guys, and it’s entertainment, but it’s really stressful for me,” said NC Central coach LeVelle Moton. “My cholesterol level is through the roof right now. I just want to go home, get in the fetal position, and go to sleep.”
The Eagles started the first half fast, gaining a 10-point lead early. The Spartans would tie the game twice in the first 20 minutes before NC Central went into the half with a 38-36 advantage.
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The second half wasn’t any different. NCCU took another double-digit lead, 68-56, with 7:19 remaining before NSU went on an 11-2 run to cut the lead to three right before the 4-minute media timeout.
After a 72-72 tie, NSU’s Brian Moore Jr. helped the Spartans take the lead 74-72 after a pair of free throws with under two minutes left. Moore finished the contest shooting 12-of-13 from the charity stripe.
Back-to-back jumpers from King and Moore kept the deficit at two points for the Eagles until King was fouled and knocked down his only two free throw attempts of the night with 48 seconds remaining.
NC Central would get the ball back, but a miss by Johnson sent the game into overtime.
A tie with 3:41 remaining in overtime was the closest Norfolk State would come as the Eagles never trailed in overtime.
NCCU held a four-point lead four different times until a three-pointer from NSU’s Terrance Jones made things interesting with a score of 88-87 with 27 seconds left.
After the Eagles struggled in regulation at the free throw line, Johnson and Porter combined for 10-of-12 from the charity stripe in bonus time to ice the game as the Eagles won 91-87.
Moore led Norfolk State in scoring with 24 points.
Courtesy: North Carolina Central
