KAHALUI, Maui, Hawai'i-On a balmy Sunday afternoon in Maui with just 12 active players, the North Carolina A&T men's basketball team (4-8, 0-1) closed the gap to just one point with 7:48 left, but the Aggies couldn't shut down guard Shaquille Stokes who had 15 points in the second half, as they lost to the Hawai'I Rainbow Warriors (5-4, 0-0) by a final of 65-57 in War Memorial Stadium.
"It was a tremendous game. I appreciate Hawaii for giving us the opportunity to come out. It was a hard fought game. I think both teams played hard, they just came out and made big shots at the right time." said N.C. A&T Head Coach Jerry Eaves. "We missed some free throws and some opportunities to score the ball. Hats off to Hawaii they did a tremendous job."
Senior guard Marc Hill led the team in scoring for the second consecutive game, finishing with 17 points, two steals and three rebounds. DaMetrius Upchurch also provided 10 of the Aggies' points in the contest, with a team-high six rebounds and team-high three steals.
Hill gave the Aggies a 40-39 lead with a jumper with 12:42 left in the game. Rainbow Warriors guard Stokes responded with a three-pointer, which was in turn answered by A&T junior Jean Louisme hitting a major shot from downtown to give the Aggies a 43-42 lead. But Hawaii came right back with another 3-pointer from Stokes and a jumper by Joston Thomas to take a 47-43 lead with 10 minutes remaining in the game. The Aggies pulled within one after a 3-pointer from the top of the key and a pair of free throws by Jeremy Underwood, at 49-48, with 7:48 left.
The two teams battled back and forth, and Hawaii pulled ahead by 13 with less than four minutes left on a 12-0 run. The Aggies battled back to pull within six points with 42 seconds left in the game, by a pair of 3-pointers by Hill and junior forward Adrian Powell. The Rainbow Warriors then called a timeout, and coming out of the break, the Aggies fouled Vander Joaquim, who nailed both free throw shots to put Hawaii ahead, 65-57. The Aggies took back possession, and Powell missed his three pointer, as the clock wound down.
"Marc Hill played a great game for me, but I wore him down," Eaves said. "Jeremy Underwood, my backup point guard, got into foul trouble. So after he went out, Marc wasn't the same player. He was just fatigued."
Eaves also noted that the Aggies bench had to step up in the contest, as team leading scorer Nic Simpson and Simpson's backup, junior Jared Williams, were both unavailable due to injury.
The Aggies kept close to the Rainbow Warriors in the first half as well, taking an early 8-6 lead, powered by five points by junior forward DaMetrius Upchurch. The Rainbow Warriors recaptured the lead, but the Aggies came within one at 30-29 with 1:50 remaining in the first half on a pair of free throws by Hill. A dunk by Davis Rozitis with six seconds left in the first period made it a 35-30 at the half.
"We're in a little scoring slump at this time, we have been on this trip. But we just have to work our way out of it," Eaves said.
The Aggies will travel to Ohio from Hawai'I on Monday for their final two games of their six-game road trip. They will take on Akron on Wednesday, Dec. 21 at 7 p.m., before traveling to Athens, Ohio to take on Ohio University on Friday, Dec. 23 at 7 p.m.
