LAS CRUCES, N.M. - The North Carolina A&T men's basketball team didn't get the win, but it did receive a demonstration. The New Mexico State Aggies got 31 points on 9-for-16 shooting from Jonathan Gibson to down the North Carolina A&T Aggies 84-68 Thursday night at the Pan American Center.
The Aggies were led Robert Johnson's 15 points, while Thomas Coleman finished with 12 points and seven rebounds and was 5-for-5 from the floor.
"I've said since the season started that I want to shoot 40 3-pointers a night,'' said N.C. A&T head coach Jerry Eaves, who saw his team take 39 threes on Thursday. "We almost got there tonight and it helped us get back in the game. Tonight showed my team that if we get up shots, we can play with anybody."
NMSU's lead swelled to as many as 20 five minutes into the second half. In between a Robert Lumpkins dunk, Johnson hit two 3-pointers for the N.C. A&T Aggies that reduced the NMSU's lead to16.
A Dwane Joshua steal and assists to James Porter ignited a 7-0 A&T Aggies run that cut NMSU's lead to 56-47 with 11:09 to play. "I told my team we were going to adhere to our principles no matter what the score was,'' said Eaves. "We kept shooting the basketball and we kept going after them the entire 94 feet."
A Jahmar Young 3-pointer put the NMSU Aggies up by double figures again at 59-47. But the A&T Aggies didn't relent. Two Johnson free throws, a 3-pointer by Marc Hill cut the lead to seven. When Coleman found a cutting Tavarus Alston for a layup the NMSU Aggies lead was down to 59-54 with 8:48 to play.
Lumpkins ended N.C. A&T's rally with a turnaround jumper that turned into a 3-point play after he was fouled. NMSU eventually got the lead back to 11 with 6:19 remaining. But a Joshua three and a steal and layup by Alston got the A&T Aggies to within six at 67-61 with just under six minutes to play.
NMSU wasn't able to put the A&T Aggies away until two Gibson free throws gave NMSU an 11-point lead with 2:19 remaining.
The A&T Aggies will end their southwest swing on Saturday when they face Lamar.
