The NC Central Eagles and the Gardner-Webb Bulldogs meet in college basketball action from the Paul Porter Arena on Saturday afternoon.
The NC Central Eagles will look to rebound from back-to-back losses after a 67-57 loss to LSU last time out. Justin Wright leads NC Central in scoring with 15.5 PPG while Kris Monroe has 10.5 PPG with a team-high 5.5 RPG to lead the Eagles on the glass and Brendan Medley-Bacon has 10 PPG with 4.5 RPG to cap off the trio of double-digit scorers for NC Central so far this season. Eric Boone also has 8.9 PPG with 5 RPG and a team-high 5.7 APG to lead the Eagles in the assist department this season. As a team, NC Central is averaging 79.1 PPG on 48.9% shooting from the field, 42.4% from three and 70.2% from the foul line this season.
The Gardner-Webb Bulldogs will be out to build on a 120-44 win over subdivision Carolina University last time out. Anthony Selden leads the Bulldogs in scoring with 12 PPG and 4 RPG while Julien Soumaoro has 10.8 PPG and Kareem Reid has 10.7 PPG with a team-high 5.9 RPG to lead the Bulldogs in rebounding. DQ Nicholas also has 10 PPG with 3.9 RPG to cap off the group of double-digit scorers for NC Central so far this season. Lucas Stieber also has a team-high 4 APG to lead the Eagles in assists up to this point in the year. As a team, NC Central is averaging 68.2 PPG on 45.2% shooting from the field, 32% from three and 66.5% from the foul line this season.
NC Central is 5-0 ATS in their last 5 games overall and 5-1 ATS in their last 6 road games while the over is 5-1 in their last 6 road games. Gardner-Webb is 0-4 ATS in their last 4 home games and 1-5 ATS in their last 6 Saturday games while the under is 6-1 in their last 7 games overall.
I get the case to be made for either side here, but I’m taking the Eagles and the points. This NC Central team has been solid ATS and a lot of their work has been done in the underdog role, and it’s not just big numbers that they’re covering, they’re covering those mid-level numbers as well. I just think this is a game where Gardner-Webb could win, but NC Central likely covers if they don’t win outright. Give me the Eagles and the points here.