NORFOLK, Va. (March 14, 2026) -- Howard University men's basketball team placed four Bison in double figures to defeat North Carolina Central (NCCU), 70-63, in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Tournament title game at the Norfolk Scope.
 
The Bison, the No. 1 seed and regular season champion, will await Sunday's (March 15) announcement of who and where they will play in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
 
The Eagles, the No. 3 seed, gave Howard all it could handle in the first half, jumping out to a 9-0 lead before fans could settle in their seats. Then, Howard settled down with senior forward Ose Okojie (Brampton, Canada) taking on the lead and rallying the Bison to a 26-23 lead at the end of the first period.
 
The score was somewhat of a moral victory for the Eagles as they had held the high-powered Howard offense in check. The Bison came into the game came averaging over 80.0 points during their current seven-game win streak.
 
"Give North Carolina Central credit; they showed great resiliency and came out with their game plan and executed," noted Howard head coach Kenneth Blakeney, who has led the Bison to three tournament titles in the past four years. "It was a gutty performance."
 
The Bison came and began to exert full court pressure on NCCU and forced turnovers and errant shots with the shot clock winding down. It proved to be effective as Howard extended its lead to 17 in the second half and went on a 19-5 run to take the lead, 45-28, the biggest of the game at the 11:52 mark. Much of the scoring came from the duo of junior guard Cedric Taylor III (Atlanta) and graduate guard Bryce Harris (Brentwood, N.Y.), who took turns making baskets and putbacks.
 
But NCCU, which was shorthanded and playing in their third game in three days, refused to go away and put together a 9-2 run to get to within eight at the 6:52 mark. Dionte Johnson and Kelechi Okworogwo combined to lead the surge.
 
Then, the Bison turned to their defense as it has through the second half of the season. At one point, Howard limited the Eagles to only one field goal during a three-minute period late in the game.
 
The Eagles still battled despite being behind by double digits. But junior guard Cam Gillus (Falls Church, Va.) shut the door by converting 6-of-7 free throws to salt away the victory and send the Bison to their third straight tournament title.
 
Gillus finished with 14 points, six rebounds, two assists, two steals and only two turnovers in 40 minutes.

"Cam has been very important to us during this season," noted Blakeney. "He sometimes goes unnoticed, but he not only runs the offense, but he also defends the other team's best offensive player." 
 
Harris, the MEAC Player of the Year and tournament MVP, finished with a double-double (14 points & 10 rebounds) and two important blocks down the stretch that repelled NCCU comeback attempts.
 
Harris has been a member of the past two titles, but he suffered a setback with an injury last season that caused him to miss most of the season.
 
"I have had a challenging journey here at Howard, said Harris. "I have been a part of the previous championships. But this one has been special."
 
Okojie finished with 14 points, three assists and four steals. Taylor also had a double-double (13 points & 12 rebounds), two steals and a block despite foul trouble.
 
Junior guard Alex Cotton (New Carrollton, Texas) added nine points on three pointers, including one that went down at the end of the shot clock that stopped a NCCU run.
 
The Eagles were led by with 14 points, Gage Lattimore with 12 points and Okworogwo and Joe Slack each with 11 points.
 
For more information, visit the Bison Athletics website at www.HUBison.com.