Durham, NC--- North Carolina Central bolted out an early lead and never looked back in cruising to a 74-39 win over Howard University in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference men's game at McDougald-McLendon Arena.
The Eagles (13-6, 4-1 in the MEAC) rode the scoring of Patrick Cole, Dajuan Graf and Del"vin Richardson, who combined for 44 points on 15 of 23 shooting among them in the first 20 minutes.
The Bison (5-15, 2-3 in the MEAC) never had an answer for hot-shooting North Carolina Central, which shot 62 percent from both the field and three-point range en route to dominating 51-19 halftime lead.
"You have to give them credit," said Howard Coach Kevin Nickelberry. "They had a week to prepare for us and it showed. They shot the ball well and defensively, they did a good job of containing "JT" (James Miller) and "CJ" (Charles Williams). Miller, who tallied 26 in Saturday's win over North Carolina A&T, went scoreless for only the second time in his career. Williams was coming off a career-high 30-point effort against the Aggies but he was held to only eight points.
In an effort to get something going, Nickelberry sat down his starters and played the reserves. The result was a lot of energy. Jalen Jones responded by leading his team with 12 points on a perfect night on the floor (5 of 5) and from the charity stripe (2 for 2) while grabbing a team-best 7 rebounds in 19 minutes of playing time.
There was added incentive for the Eagles, who had their nation-best 38-game win streak snapped last December.
"LeVelle (Moton) had them especially motivated, constantly reminding them of that home loss," noted Nickelberry. "They played with a lot more motivation. They were very physical and we did not match it. Give them credit."
Cameron Lewis added six points and 34 rebounds in 18 minutes of play.
NCCU cooled off in the second half, but with such a huge lead, it did matter as they cleared their bench.
Cole led all scorers with 24, Dickerson with 17 and Graf with 15.
NEXT UP: The Bison return home for a match-up against Savannah State on Saturday at 4 pm in Burr Gymnasium.
