Norfolk State and North Carolina Central overcame early challenges from the lower seeds to advance to the semifinals of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference men’s basketball tournament.
The Spartans overtook No. 8 seed Coppin State after falling behind early, winning 75-51 while The 2nd-seeded Eagles held off a determined Maryland-Eastern Shore challenge 87-81 in the final game of the day.
Senior guard Fred Cleveland Jr. led the Eagles with 21 points, while Po’Boigh King and Timmy Adedire added 17 points each. Dionte Johnson led the Fighting Hawks with 21 points and Devon Ellis added 18 points.
Maryland-Eastern Shore led 16-6 early in the first half, but Central (18-12) fought back to take a 40-37 halftime lead.
The Eagles led by as many as 11 points (58-47), but UMES (9-20) clawed back to within 77-74 late. That was before King was fouled on a three-point attempt and made two of three foul shots to give Central some much needed breathing room.
In the first men’s game of the tournament, Coppin State (2-27) took an early lead against the regular season champion Spartans, leading by as many as five points (15-10) early in the first half.
That was before grad student guard Christian Ings caught fire, making four of six three-point attempts on his way to a team-high 17 points. Junior forward Jack Doumbia added 14 points off the bench while center Kulel Mading made his presence felt in the paint, collecting 12 points, nine rebounds and four blocks.
Norfolk State (22-10) will play the winner of the Howard/Morgan State quarterfinal while North Carolina Central awaits the winner of South Carolina State/Delaware State.
Both semifinal games will be played on Friday.
