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11/10/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
DURHAM, N.C. - Sophomore forward DeMarcus Nelson scored 22 points and frontcourt mate Shelden Williams added 10 points, 15 rebounds, five steals and four blocked shots as the top-ranked Duke men's basketball team defeated North Carolina Central, 102-42, in exhibition action on Thursday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The Blue Devils kick off the 2005-06 campaign on Monday night against Boston University in the opening round of the Preseason NIT. Tip-off at Cameron Indoor Stadium is set for 7:30 p.m., and the game will be televised live by espn2.
In the first half, Duke's defense limited the Eagles to 33.3 percent shooting from the field while forcing 11 turnovers as the Blue Devils cruised to a 45-27 advantage behind Nelson's 13 points and eight points, 10 boards and rejections from Williams. Duke trailed early, 4-2, but a 23-4 run gave the Blue Devils a 25-8 lead on a dunk by Nelson with just under 10 minutes remaining.
Duke opened its largest lead of the night at 99-39 when Martynas Pocius buried two foul shots with 4:40 left in the contest.
Nelson connected on seven-of-nine shots from the floor, one-of-three three-point attempts, and seven-of-nine free throws. J.J. Redick tossed in 15 points while Lee Melchionni and Greg Paulus chipped in 12 and 10 points, respectively. Paulus added five assists against zero turnovers in 20 minutes while Sean Dockery logged nine points and 10 assists with just two miscues in 23 minutes.
N.C. Central was led by Chris Mayshack's 10 points.