Box Score NORFOLK, Va. – A career performance from Malcolm Hawkins on Senior Night was unable to carry the Norfolk State men's basketball team to a win over North Carolina Central on Thursday. Despite setting the school record for 3-pointers, Hawkins and his fellow teammates fell 76-70 to the Eagles at Joseph Echols Hall.

Hawkins tied his career high with 31 points, hitting 10-of-19 overall and 8-of-10 from 3-point range. He broke the previous school record of seven 3-pointers that has been achieved six different times, most recently by Corey Lyons on Dec. 20, 2008.

The loss, coupled with Morgan State's overtime win against Howard, drops NSU (17-13, 11-5 MEAC) to the No. 4 seed in the MEAC tournament. The Spartans will play at 6:30 p.m. on Monday against No. 13 seed UMES at Scope Arena.

NSU finished in a tie with Morgan State at 11-5, but the Bears earned the No. 3 seed, and thus a bye in the tournament, thanks to their wins over Hampton. NSU, meanwhile, has been the No. 4 seed or higher in the tournament in six of the last seven years.

Hawkins did all he could to keep NSU in the ballgame with NC Central, hitting deep threes while also adding six points and five assists. The Spartans, though, never had the lead after the opening few minutes of the game.

Early in the second half, after the Spartans had been down by three at the break, they got to within one at 40-39 on sophomore RaShid Gaston's putback jumper down low. The Spartans finally tied it up at 42-42 when Hawkins hit a deep 3-pointer from the right wing at the 16:45 mark. Senior Marese Phelps got in on the action with a 3-pointer as the shot clock was about to expire, but NCCU was able to extend the lead thanks to a 12-3 run.

The Eagles pushed the lead to 13 with five and a half minutes to go, but Hawkins nailed two more treys to cut the NCCU lead back down to nine, 70-61, with a little less than two and a half minutes left. NSU did not go away, as a 3-point attempt from Hawkins – his team record eighth – with 44.9 seconds left rolled around the rim before just falling in to make it 71-66.

A quick layup from senior Pendarvis Williams got NSU to within four, 72-68, before the Eagles closed out the game at the free throw line.

NCCU won the MEAC regular season title at 15-1 and finished the regular season 25-5 overall.

Williams was the only other Spartan player in double figures with 13 points to go with five rebounds, three assists and two blocks.

Jeremy Ingram led the Eagles with 19 points on 6-of-9 shooting, while Jordan Parks added 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting. NCCU finished the night 27-of-51 (52.9 percent).

The Spartans, on the other hand, shot 42.6 percent (23-of-54), including 12-of-19 from 3-point range. NSU finished one trey off the school record of 13 and had the most 3-pointers in a game since hitting 12 at Iona on Dec. 23, 2012.

The Eagles had just five turnovers compared to 15 for NSU, giving NCCU a 24-2 advantage in points off turnovers. The Eagles also turned the tables on the Spartans, outscoring NSU 34-16 in points in the paint.

After Hawkins hit a pair of free throws and a trey for NSU's first points of the game, the Eagles scored 11 straight for a 13-5 lead at the 14:37 mark. NCCU extended the run to 19-2 before junior Jamel Fuentes knocked down a short jumper in the lane. That started a short 7-2 run for the Spartans, and NSU got to within eight, 27-19, on an alley-oop layup from Williams with 6:26 left in the half.

Williams got a kind roll on his 3-point attempt to cut the deficit to 32-26, and Hawkins was left alone on a trey from the top of the key to make it 34-31 with 1:55 left. Then with 19 seconds on the clock, Hawkins buried a trey from the right corner and got fouled for the rare four-point play.

That cut the Eagle lead to just one, but Ingram nailed a running floater as time expired for a 38-35 NCCU lead going into the half. Hawkins had 15 points in the first stanza.

Gaston finished with seven points and nine rebounds. NSU had a 34-26 edge on the glass.

After NCCU attempted just two free throws in the first half, the Eagles shot 16-of-28 in the second. NSU, meanwhile, shot 9-of-11 in the first half but just 3-of-4 in the second.