Game Notes vs. NCCU l Live Stats l Hawks Radio Network

PRINCESS ANNE, Md. - North Carolina Central has won 36 straight games in the comfort of the McDougald-McLendon Arena in Durham, North Carolina. On Dec. 5, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) will be looking to change that. The Hawks (1-5) are coming off a 68-49 loss to Georgetown at the Verizon Center in Washington D.C. on Dec. 1 and will open Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) play against the Eagles (2-4).

Central is the two-time defending MEAC regular season champions and the Eagles also won the conference tournament in 2014, but were upset by Delaware State in the 2015 tournament. The Eagles were picked to win the MEAC in the preseason polls this year. In regular season action over the last three seasons, NCCU has posted an incredible mark of 47-2 against MEAC foes. The lone losses came against Florida A&M in the 2013-2014 campaign and to Savannah State during the 2012-2013 season.

UMES coach Bobby Collins said he has respect for Central coach Lavell Moten's ability as both an X's and O's coach and a motivator and knows a win against the Eagles will go a long way for his team. "He has done the very thing that I would like to do here -- make it very difficult to come in here and in win and create an environment," Collins said. "He has done that at Central. Those guys believe that they are supposed to win when you come to their home court and that is a big factor."

Before Collins came to Maryland Eastern Shore he was at Winston Salem State for eight years and was a mentor to Moten, who took over as the head coach at Central in March of 2009. "He took a lot of the things I taught him and made it special," Collins said. "We have a couple things to throw at them to see what he does. We'll see."

One thing that Collins said he used to preach to Moten was the need for good execution especially come late in the season and March. And that is something that Collins has seen in Moten's teams including this one. "He's done a fantastic job of having his team execute from the beginning," Collins said. "He's had a lot of great point guards play that could make plays, run his plays, run his sets. That is something he has always had."

Redshirt junior DaJuan Graf is the point guard on this year's squad averaging 9.3 points, 5 assists and 4.7 rebounds a game. For this Central team the shooters who stand out of seniors Rashaun Madison and Dante Holmes. Holmes and Madison both put up 20 points each, and combined to nail 10 of 18 three-pointers in the team's last game -- an 86-79 win against Mississippi Valley State.

But the Eagles are prone to turnovers (15.6 per game) with Graf coughing it up 20 times in six games so far and the team giving up 19 turnovers against MVSU. Maryland Eastern Shore forced 16 turnovers at Georgetown -- many in the second half -- but gave the ball up itself 19 times.

The winner on Saturday could be the team who is able to protect the ball the best. Devin Martin (Baltimore, Md.) continued to lead the Hawks in scoring at 14 points a game, while Dominique Elliott (Savannah, Ga.) is second on the team with 11.5 points per game and is tied for the team lead in rebounding with Bakari Copeland (Decatur, Georgia) at 5 .8 rebounds per game.

The Hawks began a seven game road trip with the loss at Georgetown, which will take them through two conference opponents before traveling to Michigan State, Maryland, Old Dominion and American before they see the William P. Hytche Center again.

It's unusual to have MEAC play start so early in the season and sandwiching two contests with so much importance in the middle of the team's guarantee game schedule makes it tougher. "I really don't like it," Collins said. "I love it if we go and win both because now you can say I'm at the top of the league no matter what your non conference record is. For us it is about winning your league. But I think it puts added pressure because you have to win one or both of those games."

So far the Hawks haven't been able to put together a complete game, which has much to do with the 10 new faces on the roster. "We haven't gotten all the way focused yet," Collins said. "We had it against Wofford for a minute and we had a taste of it versus Georgetown. But we have to get everybody hungry that's on the floor, because when you have that you play with a different type of tenacity."

Collins said that the different between this year's squad and the 2014-15 team is that level of hunger. So far, these Hawks don't have that -- yet. "We have to find it." Collins said and I am going to keep willing it until we get it."

Following the game in Durham, the Hawks will next travel to Greensboro for a second consecutive MEAC game against North Carolina A&T on Dec. 7 at 7:30. Both games can be heard locally on Fox Sports Radio 960 AM WTGM or on www.umeshawks.com. Brendan Gulick will have the call on the Hawks Sports Radio Network.