NORFOLK, Va. – Coppin State's men's basketball team, who entered the Tournament as the seventh seed, advanced to its first MEAC Championship Game since 2008 with a 79-73 victory over #3 NC Central on Friday night at Scope Arena.
Jesse Zarzuela matched a season-high with 27 points, while hitting 6-of-8 from 3-point range and dished out a career-high seven assists.
Nendah Tarke also finished in double figures with 14 points while
Justin Steers notched the second double-double of his career, recording 13 points and a career-high 13 rebounds.
With his steal to seal the game, Tarke set a CSU single-season record in the category and now has 92 steals on the season to pass Tywain McKee.
Kyle Cardaci buried three 3-pointers, all in the first half, to finish with nine points while
Mike Hood added seven points off the bench.
CSU outshot NC Central by a narrow 43.4% to 41.3% margin but came away by making 12-of-29 (41.4%) from 3-point range and 21-of-28 from the free throw line.
Coppin and NC Central went into halftime all tied at 29 as CSU hit six 3-pointers to stay in the game as NC Central outrebounded the Navy & Gold, 24-14. Central led by as many as 21-16 but Cardaci buried a triple from the corner and followed a three from Tarke with his third 3-pointer of the half from the left wing, tying the score at 25-25.
Tarke then took his game inside for a layup, giving Coppin its first lead since the opening minutes and later hit a free throw to extend CSU's lead to 28-25. Central answered with a pair of buckets before a free throw by Steers tied the score with 20 seconds to play in the period.
After trading baskets to open the second half, Zarzuela led Coppin on a 10-0 run, as he drove and found Rojas for a three from the left wing. Zarzuela then drove in for a nifty reverse layup before feeding Steers for an alley-oop. Following another stop, Zarzuela buried a three to force a NCCU timeout at the 16:00 minute mark with the Navy & Gold leading 41-33.
CSU extended its lead to as many as 66-51 on a three from Hood with 6:37 remaining, but Central regrouped with a long run. A three by Zarzuela put a stop to that, giving the Eagles back a comfortable margin. Tarke sealed the win with a steal before finding Zarzuela in the open court before being fouled with 10.9 seconds to go.
