The North Carolina A&T men's basketball lacks a do-it-all guard. So the Aggies used four guards to provide them with everything they needed to defeat S.C. State 87-69 at Corbett Sports Center Wednesday night.
Point guards Tavarus Alston and Marc Hill provided the dribble penetration and scoring. Junior Nic Simpson contributed with timely 3-point shooting and senior Dwane Joshua took care of the rebounding. Alston finished with 23 points and six assists, while Hill added a career-high 18 points. Simpson scored 12 points on four 3-pointers and Dwane Joshua grabbed seven rebounds.
"My guards were just stroking the ball today,'' said head coach Jerry Eaves. "We were hitting our shots like I know we can do. And when you have a guard who can rebound the ball like Dwane Joshua, you're going to be a very good team."
The Aggies (10-17, 6-7) won their second straight game, and for the second time in three home games, N.C. A&T shot better than 50 percent from the floor. The Aggies improved shooting allowed them to maintain the lead over the first 26 minutes.
But S.C. State's Jason Flagler hit a jump shot from the free throw line to give the Bulldogs a 45-44 lead with 13:25 remaining. Nic Simpson didn't let the Bulldog rally last for long as he took a handoff from Alston and scored on a 3-pointer to give N.C. A&T a two-point lead.
S.C. State would find themselves back in the lead 49-48 on a Darnell Porter turnaround jumper in the lane with 10:45 to play. This time Alston answered by pulling up for a jumper in the lane to put the Aggies ahead. Aggies center James Porter got the Aggies the ball back by taking a charge on Tyvon Williams.
Simpson followed by knocking down another timely three that gave the Aggies a 53-49 lead.
"Nic Simpson gave us a big lift with those jump shots,'' said Eaves. "Then you had Marc and Tavarus take advantage of them being so preoccupied with our bigs that they did not show on the high pick-and-rolls. They were able to turn the corner, and that created a lot of layup opportunities for us."
The Aggies would go on to score eight of the next 10 points in the game. It was culminated by a no-look pass from Alston to Porter that led to a dunk and a 61-51 Aggies lead with 7:48 to play. N.C. A&T led by as many as 20 in the second half.
"We were able to beat a very good opponent tonight,'' said Eaves about a S.C. State team that handed Morgan State its first conference loss of the season. "Shots are starting to fall because we are getting more offensive opportunities thanks to our improved rebounding."
The Aggies out-rebounded the Bulldogs 42-30. Porter led the Bulldogs with 19 points and five rebounds. The Aggies are back in action Monday night at 8 at the Greensboro Coliseum.
