HAMPTON - The North Carolina A&T men's basketball team still didn't shoot the ball well. But offensive rebounds can heal all shooting woes. The Aggies grabbed a season-high 24 offensive rebounds to down Hampton 69-65 Monday night at the HU Convocation Center.
Robert Johnson led the way with 13 points. Thomas Coleman added 11 points and 11 rebounds. Seven of his rebounds came on the offensive end as the Aggies outscored the Pirates 25-11 in second chance points.
"The kids played unbelievably hard today,'' said head coach Jerry Eaves. "We came out with emotion and spirit, and we even kept fighting when they got ahead. We just crushed them on the boards. I don't know why we haven't been playing like this all along. This team has the ability to do this every time out."
The Aggies (9-17, 5-7 MEAC) jumped out to an 11-4 lead only to watch the Pirates (8-17, 4-8) tie the game at 26. The Aggies hit another scoring slump from that point, allowing the Pirates to go on an 11-3 run to take a 37-29 lead with 49 seconds remaining in the first half.
The Pirates lead increased to 40-31 in the second half before their shooting started to suffer. Austin Witter started a 10-0 run with a 3-pointer, and Tavarus Alston ended the run with a floater in the lane for a 41-40 Aggies lead.
The Aggies grew their lead to 55-47 on a Nic Simpson 3-pointer with 9:20 to play. The Pirates answered with four straight points fueled by a Vincent Simpson three. The Aggies would pull away from there.
A 3-pointer from the corner by Dwane Joshua, two free throws by Joshua and a steal and layup by Alston gave the Aggies a 62-51 lead with 5:10 to play. The Aggies earned their first-ever back-to-back wins at Hampton. Last season, a win at Hampton sparked an eight-game win streak for the Aggies.
"We're going to have to keep hitting the glass,'' said Eaves. "We have South Carolina State coming in Wednesday, and they're coming off of a big win over Morgan State. I'm not making any predictions about this team. I just know we have the ability to win games if we play hard."
The Aggies host S.C. State Wednesday night at 7 from Corbett Sports Center.
