North Carolina A&T head men's basketball coach Jerry Eaves is confident he will have solid perimeter shooting this season. It didn't look as if his confidence was coinciding with what was happening on the court until a late shooting surge helped the Aggies match UNC Wilmington big shot for big.
The Aggies finally pulled away in an 84-79 overtime win over the Seahawks Tuesday night at Corbett Sports Center.
N.C. A&T earned the victory even though UNCW's Ahmad Grant couldn't miss. Grant went 7-for-7 from 3-point range, and the Seahawks were 13-for-26 for the game. It was Chad Tomko's 3-pointer that tied the game at 69 with 42 seconds remaining in regulation.
An offensive foul on Witter gave the Seahawks a chance to win the game in regulation. But Coleman blocked Tomko's layup attempt, sending the game into overtime.
Simpson gave the Aggies a two-point lead with a short jumper to open the extra period. But Grant calmly hit another 3-pointer from the corner to put the Seahawks ahead by 1. But the Aggies, who connected on just 32.3 percent of their threes for the game, found their shooting touch at the right time.
Witter answered Grant's three with one of his own to give N.C. A&T a 74-72 lead. After a Simpson free throw, Tanner Milson dropped his only 3-pointer of the night through the hoop to tie the game at 75 with 2:37 to play.
"We have tremendous shooters,'' said Eaves. "That will not be a weakness for us this year."
The two teams traded baskets before Witter sat in the corner and took a pass from Marc Hill to knock down another 3-pointer to give the Aggies an 80-77 lead with 1:14 to play. After a missed 3-pointer by the Seahawks, Hill drove the ball into the lane but missed his layup. Coleman followed it up with rim-bending dunk to give the Aggies a five-point lead with 29 seconds remaining.
"They hit every big shot,'' said Eaves. "For us to beat a team that hit 50 percent from three is a great feat. I'm disappointed that we got out-rebounded at home. We didn't have the energy that we needed, and we have to learn how to finish games."
The Aggies held an 11-point lead with 10:38 to play. Four minutes later, Grant hit back-to-back threes to pull the Seahawks to within three at 56-53. Tomko's three at the 4:25 mark gave UNCW its first lead (59-58) since the 8:09 mark of the first half.
"We're so young,'' said Eaves. "We went through a stretch where we scored three points in six minutes. It goes back to youth."
Senior Thomas Coleman led the Aggies with 18 points, six rebounds, four assists and two blocks. Junior Nic Simpson added 15 points and sophomore Austin Witter finished with nine points and 10 rebounds.
Grant had 30 points for UNCW, and Tomko added 18.
