Herald-Sun correspondent
DURHAM -- Back home from a long road trip that saw N.C. Central lose five games, the school welcomed back prestigious Eagles basketball legends for "Trailblazers Weekend" and treated the home crowd to a show.
Six NCCU players scored in double figures as the Eagles wore down Carver Bible College in the second half en route to an 82-63 victory on Saturday night at McDougal-McLendon Gym.
"That was a lot of pressure playing in front of the legends," North Carolina Central coach LeVelle Moton said with a smile. "It was wonderful mingling with those guys, but our kids had some pressure and said that they had to win one for the legends."
It wasn't all smooth sailing for the Eagles (2-7). Early on, the winless Cougars (0-13) looked as if they would spoil the festivities, leading 29-14 midway through the first half.
"They told us seven minutes before the game that there wasn't going to be a game because their team was late getting here," Moton said. "We weren't ready to play early and that's the sign of an inexperienced team."
Carver Bible was led during that run by the hot shooting of Durham native Cory Evans, who scored 16 of his game-high 24 points in the first half.
"It felt good being back home," Evans said. "I haven't played here since high school and I enjoyed playing in front of family and friends."
But N.C. Central spent the rest of the half chipping away at the lead. Fueled by sophomore Nick Chasten's strong inside play, the Eagles went on a 15-2 run and when C.J. Wilkerson converted two free throws, NCCU climbed all the way back to take the lead, 42-40, an advantage they would take into halftime.
Chasten had a double-double at half with 10 points and 10 rebounds and finished with 15 and 13.
"I felt I had to step up," Chasten said. "We needed a spark and I wanted to take charge and bring the team back."
N.C. Central started pressuring Carver Bible in the second half, and their full-court press paid off, causing 22 turnovers.
"That was probably the key to our victory," junior point Michael Glasker said. "That pressure makes team speed up and make some bad decisions. Applying that pressure works and our favor and we feel like that's NCCU basketball."
Despite a 15-minute delay in the game due to a shot clock malfunction, N.C. Central stayed hot in the second half. The Eagles finally started to figure out the Cougars' 2-3 zone and connected on seven 3-pointers in an eight-minute span in the second half. Vincent Davis made three of those 3-pointers as the Eagles used a 37-9 second-half run to put the game way.
Every Eagles starter scored in double figures. Glasker had 15 points, while Davis netted 14. C.J. Wilkerson chipped in 12, while T.J. Granger and Dami Sapara had 11 points apiece. Sapara added 11 rebounds, making it two Eagles with double-doubles.
The Eagles now enjoy an 11-day hiatus to take final exams, but Moton looks forward to using the break as a teaching tool.
"We've got to go back to the drawing board," Moton said. "We have got to work on our fundamentals and deficiencies that we haven't had time to correct until now. Hopefully we will get a couple of more wins out of it."
