Riley with a 3 to win it; ETSU beats NC Central 61-59

Jan 31, 2015, 09:24 pm

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. -- Jalen Riley knocked down a 3 with 13 seconds left, capping his 12 straight points for East Tennessee State, and the Buccaneers edged past North Carolina Central in a 61-59 comeback on Saturday night.

NC Central (16-6) led 35-28 at the break, and Jordan Parks' dunk with 5:44 left held it at a 12-point advantage.

The Eagles then shot 0 of 4, made just 1 of 4 free throws, and turned the ball over four times. Devin Harris converted three free throws to get ETSU (13-8) within nine points, and Riley took over from there. He went 3 of 4 at the line and made three 3-pointers in the run, finishing with 24 points.

Karamo Jawara's 3-pointer at the buzzer was off the mark. NC Central got its only point in the final 5:44 from Anthony McDonald, who scored 22 points -- 21 from 3-point range -- for the Eagles.