Top-seeded North Carolina Central cruises into MEAC semis (Mar 08, 2017)

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) Dajuan Graf scored 18 points with nine assists, Patrick Cole had 17 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists, and top-seeded North Carolina Central beat No. 9 seed Bethune-Cookman 95-60 on Wednesday night in the quarterfinals of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.

NCCU has been the No. 1 seed in three of the last four seasons - with one tournament championship.

NCCU led 50-32 at halftime after shooting 54.1 percent and the Eagles finished 34-of-63 (54 percent) from the floor. Cole, the MEAC player of the year, was just 6 of 18, including 0 of 5 from distance.

Rashaun Madison hit five 3-pointers and scored 15 points, Del'vin Dickerson scored 13 and Kyle Benton 10 for NC Central (23-8). The Eagles had their second-longest winning streak in program history (13 games) snapped after closing the regular season with two straight losses.

Quinton Forrest and Reggie Baker each scored 13 points for Bethune-Cookman (10-22).