Eagles men win a wild one

By MIKE POTTER : The Herald-Sun
mpotter@heraldsun.com
Jan 4, 2003 : 11:57 pm ET

FAYETTEVILLE -- Curtis Knight hit what probably was the biggest shot of his college career on Saturday night, and he still isn’t quite sure what happened.

As it was, N.C. Central’s sophomore guard picked up a loose ball in the lane and fired it home with 6.7 seconds left in overtime, giving the Eagles a heart-stopping 94-93 CIAA men’s basketball victory over Fayetteville State at Capel Arena.

Eagles point guard Michael Noel stripped the ball from FSU’s Kenny Haywood to prevent a final attempt and seal the victory in the Western Division opener for both teams.

"Thank God!" Knight said of the shot, which completed his 13 point, nine-rebound effort. "It was contested. I can’t even tell you exactly what happened. I just put it up and it went in, and now we can be happy."

The Eagles (6-6, 2-1 CIAA) are at .500 in January for the first time in Phil Spence’s three-season tenure as head coach.

"Fayetteville State is a great team and they’re well-coached," Spence said of Sam Hanger’s club. "I knew it would be a battle, but I didn’t know it would be like this. I’m just glad we were able to come out with a win."

The Eagles thought they should have won more comfortably, as they led by 11 points with less than three minutes to go. But guard James Tucker, who finished with 13 points, had a tough run, missing the front end of one-and-ones twice in the final minute of regulation and then being called for traveling as he went for the winner in the lane with the score tied 3.18 seconds to play. Tucker suffered a sprained ankle on the play and sat out overtime.

"I’ve just got to get back in the gym and shoot a lot of free throws," Tucker said as he limped back to the dressing room.

Shawn Ray led the Eagles with 27 points, including five in overtime to set up Knight’s game-winner after FSU led 93-87 with 2:21 left in the extra period.

"After we were up 11 points like that, there was just no way we were going to lose this game," said Ray, the Eagles’ captain. "They came back on us in regulation, and we came back on them in overtime. I was guarding Haywood on that last play. When it was over, I gave Petey [Noel] a hug and said, ‘Good help!’ "

Jermond Debro had 16 points for NCCU. Charles Nickens scored 10, including a pair of 3-pointers, as NCCU went 10-for-30 from outside the arc.

Haywood led FSU (4-6) with 27 points, while Bryan Chapman added 26 and David Pierce 17.

The Broncos outshot the Eagles 56.9 percent to 44.9 percent, hit 6-for-10 from outside the arc and out-rebounded NCCU 44-31. But the turnover margin was the difference, as FSU committed 24 to 15 for NCCU.

"That’s been our Achilles’ heel," Hanger said of the turnovers. "We’ve just got to get some more guards. Kenny Haywood gave it everything he had tonight. I can’t fault him. He was tired. I should have called timeout and set up a play, so that’s on me."

The Eagles led 46-40 at halftime despite being outshot 53.8 percent to 47.5 percent. That was primarily because the Eagles had just two turnovers at the break.

Haywood had 13 points and Chapman 12 at the half for FSU, while Tucker led the Eagles with 10.

Neither team led by more than six points in the first half, which had five lead changes and five ties. NCCU went ahead for the rest of the half on Tucker’s inside move that made it 37-36 with 4:02 left in the period.

The Eagles led by as many as 11 points twice in the second half, the last at 78-67 on a Debro follow shot with 4:07 to play. But after Nickens hit the back end of a two-shot opportunity to put the Eagles up 81-73 with 1:28 left in regulation, the Broncos ran off eight straight to tie the score.

The knotting bucket was Chapman’s follow shot with 8.8 seconds left. After Tucker’s turnover, the Broncos had a chance for the win at the buzzer, but Haywood’s half-court heave missed the rim.

NOTES -- The Eagles’ next game is Tuesday night at 7:30 at Bowie State. ... FSU’s next game is on Tuesday at 7:30 at Virginia Union. ... NCCU takes on St. Augustine’s on Saturday at 8:30 in the second game of the "Carolina Freedom Classic" at the RBC Center. The Broncos face Johnson C. Smith in the opener of that doubleheader at 6 p.m. ... The Eagles’ next home game is against Livingstone on Jan. 15 at 7:30. ... The NCCU-FSU return match is on Feb. 4 at 7:30 at McLendon-McDougald Gym.