North Carolina A&T (6-9) at Georgia
Southern (6-8)
Date: January 5, 2013
Time: 7 p.m.
Facility:
Hanner Field House
Series: First
meeting
Live
Webstream (Radio): Brian Holloway
(play-by-play);
The
link: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nca-t-sports
PROBABLE
STARTERS:
G Lamont Middleton (6-3 Jr., 13.7 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 3.1 apg); G Jean Louisme (6-4
Sr., 9.9 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.7 apg); F Austin Witter (6-8 Sr., 6.9 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 2.9
bpg); F Adrian Powell (6-6 Sr, 12.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 1.8 spg); C Bruce Beckford
(6-7 Fr., 7.3 ppg, 4.6 rpg)
CHIT CHAT: North Carolina A&T will close out its non-conference
schedule at Georgia Southern Saturday night. The Aggies are hoping to finish
their non-conference schedule with seven wins, which is a number that head
coach Cy Alexander believes will go a long way in helping the Aggies record
their first winning season in 15 years. The Aggies are coming off of an
important 81-77 win over Radford, Wednesday night at Corbett Sports Center. The
Aggies needed the win after dropping two straight on the road. With that win in
their back pocket, the Aggies are looking for their first two-game winning
streak of the season. Georgia Southern will be the first Southern Conference
team other than crosstown rival UNC Greensboro the Aggies have played since
taking on Elon in 2001.
From the coach:
"There is pain and then there are injuries.
We've got some guys with some pains, but they're not injured. We have to go
down to Georgia Southern with the mindset of playing really good basketball. We
have to go into their place with the mindset of we're going to play 40 minutes
of solid basketball."
North Carolina
A&T head coach Cy
Alexander on Georgia Southern
It's A "Lock": North Carolina A&T scored more than
80 points against Radford Wednesday night. The Aggies have won their last 12
games when scoring 80 or more points. The last time the Aggies lost after
scoring more than 80 was against Maryland Eastern Shore on Feb. 7, 2011.
The Opponent: Georgia Southern enters today's game 6-8 on the
season after a 65-61 loss to UAB to open the New Year. The Aggies will face a
familiar foe tonight in C.J. Reed. Reed played three seasons at MEAC rival
Bethune-Cookman with his father, Cliff Reed, as the head coach. After winning
MEAC Player of the Year and National HBCU Player of the Year honors after the
2010-11 season, Reed transferred to Central Florida. Once UCF experienced NCAA
sanctions, Reed transferred to Georgia Southern. In three games against
A&T, Reed averaged 17.0 points per game, and was 19-for-55 from the floor.
He is averaging 11.4 points per game for the Eagles.
Potential Gameday Star
power: North Carolina A&T: Freshman center Bruce Beckford had consecutive bad games on
the glass versus Texas Tech and CSU Bakersfield. But he rebounded on Wednesday,
as he finished with 15 points and nine rebounds, including eight on the defensive
end. If he can continue the rebound, the Aggies will be hard to defeat. Georgia
Southern: Junior Eric Ferguson leads the Eagles in scoring at 14.7 points per
game. He recently reached the 1,000-point plateau and ranks 35th in
scoring all-time at GSU. He is on the verge of becoming the sixth player in
school history to reach 1,000 points and 500 rebounds.
The Magic Number For A&T: 20: North Carolina A&T junior
guard Lamont Middleton has scored 20-plus points four times this season. The
Aggies are 3-1 when the junior college transfer scores 20 or more.
FROM THE
NOTES
Witter has earned a reputation as being one of the best defensive
players in the country. In his last 10 games, Witter has recorded at least two
blocks. Over his last six games, he is averaging 4.2 blocks. Witter is the only
Aggie on the roster with more than 500 points, 300 rebounds, 150 assists and
100 blocks. He ranks 10th in the nation in blocked shots and third in the
conference.
The Aggies have
blocked at least one shot in their last 41 games. The last time the Aggies failed
to block a shot was Nov. 14, 2011 at Iowa. They have at least three blocks in
their last seven games.
