NC Central University played in title game of the MEAC basketball tournament on March 10,2018.
Hampton will be packing their bags to leave the MEAC, North Carolina Central will be packing their bags for the Big Dance.
For the second straight year, the Eagles won the MEAC Conference Tournament, earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, by defeating the Pirates, 71-63. N. C. Central forced the Pirates to miss their last three shots from the field in the final three minutes and 28 seconds after the game was tied at 58. The Eagles outscored the Pirates 11-2 down the stretch. N. C. Central closed the game out at the foul line, pulling off once of the biggest upsets in tournament history.
The Eagles, who came into the tournament as the No. 6 seed, did not back down from the top-seeded Pirates, who were playing in their final MEAC tournament.
There was eight lead changes in the first half, and the Eagles led by as many as five. N. C. Central started the game looking rattled, turning the ball over on their first two possessions. But the turnover bug spread to the Pirates, who turned the ball over on three straight possessions, which led to six straight points for NCCU.
Eagles big man Raasean Davis had five of the first seven points for NCCU, but headed to the bench with two fouls midway through the first. His running mate, Pablo Rivas, picked up the slack, scoring four in a row with Davis on the bench, giving the Eagles a 25-22 lead. The Pirates last two baskets of the half would come from a pair of long 3s from Kalin Fisher and Malique Trent-Street, giving the Pirates a one-point, 29-27, lead at the break.
NCCU took control of the game, going up 14-9, but went 1-for-7 from the field in a five minute span. That allowed the Pirates to creep back into the game and retake the lead. The Eagles were able to keep their best players on the floor, as Moton wanted, with the exception of Davis. Freshman guards Jordan Perkins and Reggie Gardner each picked up early fouls, but remained out of foul trouble the remainder of the first half.
It was an unlikely hero, walkon guard John Guerra, who got the Eagles going in the second half. Guerra knocked down two threes to start the half, and Rivas added a triple of his own to give N. C. Central its biggest lead of the day, 38-30, part of an 11-2 run. But the Pirates countered with a 9-2 of their own to make it a one-point game. Hampton took the lead, 53-52, on a jumper Greg Heckstall, and the seesaw battle was on the rest of the way.
The Eagles and Pirates had never met in the MEAC Tournament before, and this will be the last time, as Hampton heads to the Big South Conference. Two teams are leaving the MEAC, Hampton and Savannah State, and NCCU eliminated them both in the conference tournament. Four Eagles scored in double figures, led by Rivas (22), Perkins (13), Guerra (12) and Gardner (11).
