Brandon Walker for Urban Media Today
Norfolk, VA—Howard had a balanced scoring output, with four players scoring in double figures. Howard won its first Men’s MEAC conference championship since 2023, beating North Carolina Central 70-63 on Saturday afternoon at the Norfolk Scope Arena.
NC Central got on the board first with a basket by Kelechi Okworogwo, followed by two free throws by Gage Lattimore. After several missed opportunities for Howard, Ose Okojie finally put them on the board with two free throws and a basket. Lattimore responded immediately with a three-pointer. Then, Bryce Harris made a tough driving layup to pull the Bison within two before Lattimore drained another three to take advantage of another turnover and put NCCU up six by the second media timeout.
Travelle Bryson made a 15-foot jumper coming out of the timeout, followed by a three-pointer by Alex Cotton as the Bison held the Eagles without a point between media timeouts. That was before Okworoogwo made a thunderous dunk on a screen and roll. Two Cedric Taylor III free throws gave Howard its first lead of the game, thanks to using full-court pressure on defense and being more assertive on the boards.
Both teams had opportunities to pull away and gain separation, but failed to do so, as Howard ended the first half with a three-point lead, 26-23.
At halftime, NC Central was shooting just 29.6 percent, but Howard had only converted five of its ten free throw attempts. Aside from these differences, every other statistical metric was even, setting up a close second half.
Taylor began the first half with a put-back as they played more aggressively on defense. It went on a 9-0 run to begin the second half, which was highlighted by a Cotton three-pointer. Howard continued to apply pressure in defense and force turnovers. Diontae Johnson made the first field goal in the second half for NC Central at the 15:47 mark. Howard on defense held its lead throughout the second half, getting second-chance opportunities by dominating the offensive glass. NC Central was making a push with a 7-0 run to cut the lead to ten at the 6:53 mark of the second half with layups by Jae Slack and Johnson. Three-point field goals by Tekao Carpenter and Johnson cut further into the deficit, with NCCU trailing 60-53 at the under-4 timeout.
Howard responded to the NCCU run with a dunk by Okojie off a turnover with under two minutes remaining. Soon after, Cam Gillus made a 15-foot jumper, ultimately putting the game out of reach for NC Central.
The key to Howard’s victory was 23 fast-break points to NC Central’s nine. Howard outrebounded NC Central 38-31.
Harris, the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, had 14 points and 10 rebounds. Gillus and Okojie also scored 14 for Howard. Taylor added 13 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Johnson led NC Central with 14 points. Lattimore scored 12 points and went 3 for 6 from three. Okworogwo and Slack added 11 points each for NC Central.
Howard will now learn its fate on Selection Sunday, when it will find out who its first opponents are in next week’s NCAA tournament.
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