North Carolina
NCCU Advances to MEAC Championship Game with Win Over Delaware State – North Carolina Central University Athletics
The North Carolina Central men’s basketball team is headed to the MEAC Tournament Championship for the first time since 2019 after defeating No. 7 Delaware State on Friday night, 59-53, at Norfolk Scope Arena. The Eagles enter Saturday’s final as the No. 3 seed and will face No. 1 Howard.
In NCCU’s last championship appearance in 2019, the Eagles won their fourth MEAC title and completed a three-peat. This will mark the first time the Eagles and Bison meet in the MEAC championship game.
NCCU (14-17) was led by Kyric Davis, who poured in a season-high 23 points to go along with eight rebounds. Davis was a perfect 11-for-11 from the field in 33 minutes of action. Kelechi Okworogwo also chipped in 15 points and seven rebounds.
DSU (8-23) entered the game with momentum after knocking off No. 2 Morgan State on Wednesday. The Hornets kept the game close throughout, led by Ponce James with 17 points as he tried to lift his team to a victory.
The Eagles took control early in the first half, getting on the board with two quick scores from Okworogwo. Delaware State responded with a 7-0 run until Davis began to take over. Davis finished the first half with 12 points, capitalizing on offensive rebounds.
During NC Central’s 12-0 run, Ryan Archey provided a spark off the bench. The Eagles forced 10 turnovers by the Hornets and held a 24-10 advantage in points in the paint, taking a 32-21 lead into halftime.
Delaware State opened the second half determined to fight back, using an 8-0 run and holding NCCU scoreless for two minutes. The surge prompted head coach LeVelle Moton to call a timeout to regroup the Eagles.
James, Rahmir Moore and Jalen St. Clair helped Delaware State trim the deficit to two points on three different occasions before the final media timeout. Free throws from Davis, Jae Slack and Gage Lattimore extended the lead late as the Hornets ran out of time.
NC Central dropped both regular-season meetings with Howard and will look to break that trend on Saturday, March 14. The championship tips off at 1 p.m. at Scope Arena and will be broadcast live on ESPN2.
For more information on NCCU Athletics, visit NCCUEaglePride.com.
North Carolina and NC State, scheduled to meet just once in the men’s basketball regular season for the second consecutive season, are working to schedule a nonconference meeting in Greensboro in December, WRAL has learned.
The Atlantic Coast Conference rivals had played annual games in Raleigh and in Chapel Hill for more than 100 years before last season when the teams met just once in Raleigh. This season, the ACC scheduled just one meeting between the schools in Chapel Hill.
The additional meeting, which is not finalized, would be played Dec. 15 in Greensboro, according to a source.
The 18-team ACC moved from 20 conference games to 18 before last season in an attempt to improve the league’s NCAA Tournament credentials. It worked as the league received eight bids to the NCAA Tournament in 2026, but it also created some scheduling changes, including the elimination of a second game between NC State and UNC in most seasons.
The current conference schedule dictates that each school plays two teams twice (a primary partner and a variable partner), plays 14 teams once and misses one school altogether. In 2026-27, UNC will play Duke (primary) and Louisville (variable) twice and won’t play Clemson. NC State will play Wake Forest (primary) and California (variable) twice and won’t play Syracuse.
Greensboro was the longtime home of the conference office. The ACC men’s basketball tournament has been held at First Horizon Coliseum, formerly the Greensboro Coliseum, 29 times – the most in league history.
For decades, the ACC played a true round robin among its members — a format that became unworkable as the league grew to 12, 15 and, now, 18 basketball-playing schools.
State lawmakers have pursued various measures to force schools in the UNC System to play each other, citing the economic impact of such meetings. North Carolina and NC State are UNC System schools.
A 2024 bill would have required the two ACC schools to play each other and other in-state public universities in football and basketball. A 2025 bill, aimed at potential conference realignment, would have required that NC State and UNC play each annually in football, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball and softball. The Senate’s 2025 budget proposal would have required more basketball games between UNC, NC State and smaller schools across the state. The budget would have added UNC and NC State to the schools that receive annual distributions from sports betting tax revenue.
None of those measures have become law.
NC State and North Carolina have been conference mates since 1911, first in the South Atlantic Intercollegiate Athletic Association, then in the Southern Conference and now the ACC. Both have been members of the ACC since its 1953 founding.
There is some sad news from the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission’s popular Barn Owl Live Cam.
Wildlife officials say a Great Horned Owl entered the barn Wednesday around midnight and killed one of the barn owl owlets. Biologists have not been able to determine which owlet was lost.
They have confirmed it was one of the three youngest birds in the nest. The Wildlife Commission says the incident is heartbreaking but also a natural part of life in the wild.
Great Horned Owls are one of the main predators of Barn Owls, and encounters between the two species do happen. The attack was captured on the live camera.
Officials say the video also shows an extremely rare moment when the adult female Barn Owl fought the Great Horned Owl on top of the nest box. Despite the loss, the surviving owlets are expected to continue growing over the coming weeks.
They will lose their fluffy down feathers, begin exploring outside the barn, and continue developing hunting skills.
The Wildlife Commission says some of the young owls could leave the nest as early as July.
After leaving the nest, they usually travel alone and may eventually move hundreds of miles from where they hatched. The Barn Owl Live Cam remains available for the public to watch.
(WLOS) — In a tragic update, one of the baby barn owls being monitored by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission has died after a great horned owl entered the barn and killed the owlet. The barn owlets had attracted worldwide attention through the wildlife commission’s ongoing observation efforts.
Officials with N.C. Wildlife said it is not yet clear which owlet was killed, but confirmed it was one of the three youngest.
The wildlife commission said it captured a photo of the great horned owl and the adult female barn owl fighting on top of the box, calling it an “extremely rare encounter to capture on camera.”
PHOTOS: OWLETS ‘HOO’ GAINED WORLDWIDE FAME ARE GROWING QUICKLY INTO YOUNG ADULTS
The wildlife commission said that while this loss is tragic, it is a common encounter because great horned owls are a top predator of barn owls. Officials also said this will likely not be the last encounter.
Over the next few weeks, the commission said viewers will likely see the remaining owlets start exploring, leaving the barn and learning to hunt. The fledglings may leave the barn as early as July to start hunting on their own, according to the commission.
-
World7 minutes agoWho will control Africa’s AI infrastructure and at what cost
-
News34 minutes agoThe Supreme Court says the U.S. can turn away asylum seekers at the border
-
Los Angeles, Ca2 hours agoJury says it is deadlocked in trial of man accused in Palisades Fire
-
Detroit, MI2 hours agoScene active as police shoot, kill man on Detroit’s west side
-
San Francisco, CA2 hours agoCivil grand jury report warns of wildfire risk at SF’s Glen Canyon Park
-
Dallas, TX2 hours agoIvory Coast advances at World Cup, how to buy Ivory Coast tickets
-
Miami, FL3 hours agoMen used fake credentials to enter Brazil vs. Scotland match at Miami Stadium, deputies say
-
Boston, MA3 hours ago3 arrested after trying to break into downtown building, Boston police say – The Boston Globe
