NC Central beats Morgan St for 1st place in MEAC (Feb 04, 2017)

By AP
Published

BALTIMORE (AP) Kyle Benton and Patrick Cole each scored 17 points and North Carolina Central claimed sole possession of first place in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference with a 68-62 win over Morgan State on Saturday.

The Eagles (16-6, 7-1) have a one-half game lead over the Bears (10-12, 7-2).

Cole added seven rebounds and seven assists. Del'Vin Dickerson finished with 11 points and seven boards for the Eagles, who made just a hair under half their field goals (24 of 50) and hit 14 of 18 at the free-throw line.

Tiwian Kendley scored 14 points to lead Morgan State, which saw its three-game win streak halted.

NC Central led by as many as 17 midway through the second half, but the Bears' Martez Cameron cut it to 59-54 on a free throw with 2:32 left. Cole responded with two at the line on the next possession to push it back to a three possession game.