WASHINGTON, D.C. - The hope for the North Carolina A&T men's basketball team is that there very well could be an opposite side of what it is going through right now.
The Aggies endured another rough shooting night as they shot just 33.3 percent from the floor in a 59-49 loss to Howard Saturday evening at Burr Gymnasium. Marc Hill was the only Aggie to reach double figures as he ended the night with 13 points. Thomas Coleman finished with seven points, 11 rebounds and a blocked shot.
"We can't hit a shot right now,'' said Jerry Eaves, who saw his team go 3-for-24 from 3-point range on Saturday and 7-for-32 last Monday. "But I truly believe when the dike opens up, it's really going to open up. My men played well. They played great defense. We turned them over. We stole the ball. But right now we're in a scoring funk, and it's grown to be a little larger than it needs to be.
The Aggies trailed 17-11 with seven minutes remaining in the first half. N.C. A&T went the next four minutes without a field goal and saw Howard's lead grow to 27-15. It would not be the only drought of the day.
After trailing 32-21 at the half, the Aggies opened the half with a layup from Dwane Joshua. The Aggies went the next seven minutes without a field goal. Howard's lead ballooned to 46-23 before the Aggies were able to even respond with a free throw.
The Aggies spent the remainder of the second half trying to chip away at the Bison's lead. They got the deficit down to 10 with 8 ½ minutes remaining on a Robert Johnson 3-pointer. But when the Aggies tried to get closer, Nic Simpson had a 3-pointer roll in and out, and Coleman and Joshua missed back-to-back layups.
Howard guard Calvin Thompson made it hurt even more when he knocked down a 3-pointer from the corner to give the Bison a 50-37 lead with 7:40 remaining. The Aggies were able to get it down to 10 again with 5 ½ minutes remaining, but two turnovers hampered their chances.
"With three minutes left to go, the home team had 55 points,'' Eaves said about Howard. "Normally, that should give you more than enough of a chance to win. But until the ball starts going in the basket, we don't have a chance to win."
The Aggies dropped to 8-17 overall and 4-7 in the MEAC. Howard improved to 7-19 and 6-5 in the conference. Thompson led the Bison with 14 points, 12 rebounds and five assists. The Aggies will head to Hampton to play the Pirates Monday night at 8.
"The only thing I can tell the young men is to keep playing great defense,'' said Eaves. "When we do start to make shots again - like we did early in the year - then we can make a run and win this thing (MEAC Tournament)."
