Eagles win nail biter over Shaw Bears

Eagles win nail biter over Shaw Bears

March 1, 2006

(CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA)  In a battle of the maroon’s, the Eagles of North Carolina Central came back and held on to capture a thrilling 58-53 victory over the Shaw Bears.  North Carolina Central, seeded fourth in the CIAA Western division, improves their record to 10-17 while Shaw ends their season at 7-19.

The Eagles of North Carolina Central started off ice cold, hitting only one of 13 from the floor and trailed 14-3 after the first eight minutes.  Shaw’s James Rosebud led the early assault, scoring 10 of those points.  North Carolina Central cut the deficit to four points (20-16) by the 6:30 mark of the opening period and took their first lead at 22-21 on a DeAngelo Spruill layup with 3:12 remaining before halftime.  Turnovers were plentiful by both teams in the first half, with Shaw committing 15 and NCCU turning the ball over 14 times.  Spruill’s 3-pointer with 30 seconds left before intermission, gave the Eagles a 27-24 lead at the break.  Another key stat that got the Eagles back in the game was bench points, as North Carolina Central’s reserves outscored Shaw 22-0.

The second half was pretty uneventful until Jamal Coleman nailed a 3-pointer from deep in the right corner to tie the game at 46-46.  Rosebud put the advantage back on the Bears side of the scoreboard but a Chris Prince (six points) jumper in the paint knotted the score at 48.  Shaw held a 53-51 lead with 52.1 seconds left in regulation until Bryan Ayala’s triple put the Eagles up by one at 54-53.  Ayala stole a pass on Shaw’s next possession and Chris Tyrance was fouled on the play.  Tyrance made one of two but the Bears threw the ball out of bounds on its very next possession.  NCCU’s Kevin Noell added another free throw to increase the Eagles lead to 56-53 with 23 seconds left in the contest.  Two more North Carolina Central free throws, one by Ayala and one by Prince accounted for the final margin.

Shaw’s James Rosebud led both teams in scoring (22 points) and rebounds (14) to close out his collegiate career.  North Carolina Central was led by Spruill’s 19 points, the only Eagle to score in double figures.

North Carolina Central now advances to Thursday’s (3/2) quarterfinals to face the defending CIAA and NCAA Division II National Champion Panthers of Virginia Union at 7:00 P.M.