GREENSBORO - The North Carolina A&T men's basketball team made a necessary change.
It was a change the Aggies haven't made all year, but it went a long way in securing their 76-72 win over Coppin State on Saturday.
Thomas Coleman led the Aggies with 24 points, 12 rebounds and three blocked shots. Nic Simpson came off the bench to score 12. But it was the Aggies defense against the highest scoring offense in the MEAC that catapulted N.C. A&T to victory.
"He made me adjust," said N.C. A&T head coach Jerry Eaves about Coppin State head coach Ron "Fang" Mitchell.
Defensively, the Aggies normally deny vigorously inside of 19-feet, and contest late on 3-point shooters. But the Eagles have so many shooters, and they were knocking down so many perimeter jump shots, it forced Eaves to change philosophies.
"It's the first time all year I've told my players to get a step or two closer to the shooters," said Eaves. "I've preached contest late, rebound the ball and we'll beat people. But we would not have if we did not get a step or two closer."
The Eagles made 7 of 13 3-pointers in the first half, and took a 42-28 lead into the locker room. On the flip side, the Aggies shot just 33 percent over the first 20 minutes. A focus on getting the ball inside to Coleman combined with Coppin State misses from the perimeter helped the Aggies erase the deficit.
Two Simpson free throws moved the Aggies to within one at 72-71 with 1:08 remaining. After a Tony Gallo miss, the Aggies called timeout. Eaves went into the timeout knowing Coleman would be double teamed.
"We were going to either baseline cut if the double team came from the baseline, or we were going to cut down the middle if they came from the top," said Eaves.
The double came from the top. Sophomore Adrian Powell cut down the middle of the lane, took the dump off pass from Coleman and scored on an easy layup for a 73-72 Aggies lead with 36 seconds remaining. Coleman clinched the win for N.C. A&T when he blocked Gallo's layup with nine seconds to play.
The win improved the Aggies to 14-15 overall and 8-6 in the MEAC. They are currently in fifth place with two remaining conference games. One of those games is against Morgan State (15-11, 10-4) Monday night at 7 p.m., on ESPNU from Corbett Sports Center.
Coppin State fell to 14-13 overall and 9-5 in the MEAC. The Eagles were led by Akeem Ellis who finished with 27 points and nine rebounds. Michael Harper added 20 and Gallo had 19.
