Gillus, Okojie and Harris score 14, Howard beats NC Central 70-63 to clinch NCAA Tournament bid
Cam Gillus, Ose Okojie and Bryce Harris all scored 14 points, and top-seeded Howard opened the second half with a decisive run to beat No. 3 seed North Carolina Central 70-63 on Wednesday, claiming the MEAC title and a spot in the NCAA tournament
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — Cam Gillus, Ose Okojie and Bryce Harris all scored 14 points, and top-seeded Howard opened the second half with a decisive run to beat No. 3 seed North Carolina Central 70-63 on Wednesday, claiming the MEAC title and a spot in the NCAA tournament.
Howard (23-10) led 26-23 at halftime before breaking the game open down the stretch. The Bison opened the second half on a 15-1 run, turning a three-point lead into a 41-24 advantage with 16:18 remaining and did not trail the rest of the way.
The Bison, who have won two of the last three MEAC Tournament titles, got 14 points apiece from Gillus, Okojie and Harris. Cedric Taylor III added 13 points and 12 rebounds, while Harris finished with 10 rebounds.
N.C. Central (14-18) spent the rest of the half trying to recover and got within six points several times, including 58-52 after a 3-pointer by Dionte Johnson with 4:19 left. Howard answered each push and closed the game at the free-throw line.
Johnson led the Eagles with 14 points and seven rebounds. Gage Lattimore added 12 points, Kelechi Okworogwo scored 11 and Jae Slack had 11 off the bench.
Recommended for you
Howard made 27 of 35 free throws, while North Carolina Central committed 13 turnovers.
Up Next
Howard claimed an automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Tournament, which begins Tuesday with the First Four. They await their matchup and seeding, which will be revealed on Sunday.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.