DURHAM, N.C. – Senior David Holston (Pontiac, MI/Avondale HS) (Pontiac, Mich.) paced five Chicago State players in double figures with a double-double of 33 points and a career high-tying 12 assists as the visiting Cougars claimed a 115-96 win over host North Carolina Central Saturday evening at the McLendon-McDougald Gymnasium. The Cougars hiked their season record to 9-8, while the Eagles dropped to 0-18.
CSU used a 13-3 run through a stretch of nearly five minutes which turned a slim 7-6 advantage into a 20-9 lead at 12:27 thanks to 11 points by senior John Cantrell (Pontiac, MI/Northern HS) (Pontiac, Mich.). NCCU bounced back by scoring five of the next nine points in 2:57 to slice its deficit to 24-15 on a jumper from junior Joshua Worthy at 9:23, but senior Mike Wilson (New York, NY/Mt. San Jacinto CC) (New York, N.Y.) scored seven points as the visitors scored 12 of the next 21 points in a four-minute span to regain its biggest margin of the half at 16 points (40-24) with 5:15 left in the half.
The home team then scored 18 of the stanza's final 32 points in the last five minutes with freshman Jamar Briscoe producing 11 points during the scoring drive which cut CSU's leading margin to 54-42 entering intermission.
Holston tallied eight points during a 24-5 CSU run over the opening six minutes of the second half which increased the lead to 76-47 with 13:59 remaining in the game. A layup from senior Bryan Ayala opened a 27-16 scoring drive which lasted 7:23 to bring NCCU to within 92-74 at 6:11 after a Worthy dunk. The Cougars got to the century mark at the 2:38 mark on a Holston free throw and the Eagles would get no closer than 13 points for the rest of the game.
Cantrell finished with 27 points on 10-of-13 shooting from the field while draining all four of his three-point attempts and all three chances from the free throw line. Wilson and sophomore Carl Montgomery (Chicago, IL/Shepard) (Palos Heights, Ill.) each contributed 11 points while Montgomery added eight rebounds. Sophomore Hajji Martin (Chicago, IL/Morgan Park) (Chicago, Ill.) produced a career-best 10 points in 21 minutes off the bench.
Briscoe led the Eagles with 32 points and went 12-of-14 from the free throw line. Ayala posted 20 points and seven assists, while Worthy finished with 15 points. Senior Phillip Branch produced nine points and fellow classmate Nick Chasten added eight caroms for NCCU.
Chicago State concludes its road swing Monday night in Virginia against fellow Independent Longwood at Willett Hall in Farmville with the tip-off set for 6 p.m.
~ CSU ~
