Going into the MEAC Tournament, Norfolk State and N.C. Central were a combined 31-1 in the conference. On Wednesday night in Norfolk, Va., both teams’ seasons came to an end with a loss in the conference tournament.

After the No. 1 seed Spartans fell to Bethune-Cookman, N.C. A&T upset the Eagles, 55-42, for the first time for Adrian Powell and the rest of the Aggies’ senior class.

Powell, along with junior teammate Lamont Middleton, had 13 points, as did Eagles senior Stanton Kidd to lead all scorers.

After leading the MEAC in points per game, shooting percentage and free-throw percentage, the Eagles were abysmal in every category Wednesday night.

Junior guard Jeremy Ingram went 0 for 7 in the first half and the Eagles shot just 26.1 percent. N.C. Central went 1 for 7 from the charity stripe in the first half and went into the halftime trailing 20-15 – the Eagles’ lowest point total in the first half all season.

Ingram and fellow junior guard Emanuel “Poobie” Chapman finished 3-for-21, which was just below the team’s shooting percentage of 22.6 percent for the game.

N.C. A&T advanced to the semifinals on Friday at 8 p.m. to take on the winner of Thursday night’s Delaware State and Howard matchup.