ORANGEBURG, S.C.-Cy Alexander is used to seeing S.C. State
defeat North Carolina A&T, after having led the Bulldogs to five titles in
16 seasons as their head coach. He just
hasn't seen it from the Aggie bench in Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center.
The Bulldogs (5-18, 1-9) picked up their first conference win of the year,
defeating the Aggies 72-70, Saturday evening on S.C. State's Senior Night.
"I congratulate South Carolina State on a well-played
game. I thought their kids played really, really
well and I thought we didn't play very smart," said Alexander. "I'm disappointed that we still haven't gotten it.
We don't seem to get it. We got
caught too much in their record, and I kept trying to emphasize that this was going
to be a basketball war. It never sunk
in."
The Aggies (13-13, 6-5) pulled within two points on a
3-pointer from the corner by senior Austin Witter with 2.5 seconds left. But after Khalif Toombs missed a pair of
free throws, the Aggies missed their last-second Hail Mary shot. Witter finished the game with 11 points and
10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. Senior Jean Louisme led the team with 18
points and senior Adrian Powell had 11.
"I'm just disappointed that we can't seem to get past
winning two in a row. It's perplexing to
me," said Alexander, who had been hoping to pick up the team's third straight game
on Saturday and to gain a better position in the conference standings.
The Aggies had a 37-36 lead in the first four minutes of the
second half. The Bulldogs gained the
upper hand on a pair of free throws by Darryl Palmer, and did not relinquish
the advantage, even though the Aggies fought to stay within striking
distance. Powell pulled A&T within
one at 57-56 with 4:31 remaining on a layup.
The Bulldogs went on a 7-0 run to
build up a cushion. S.C. State led by as
much as 10 with 1:10 remaining in the contest.
But junior Lamont Middleton scored on a 3-point play to cut
the lead to six, six seconds later. A Jeremy Underwood layup moved the Aggies
to within with a little less than a minute remaining. After a Bulldogs layup,
Powell scored and Middleton made a pair of free throws to pull A&T within
two with 37 seconds left. S.C. State's took a three-point lead on a free throw by
Shaquiell Mitchell.
Despite the Aggies, momentum over the final minute, Middleton missed a 3-point attempt with 32
seconds left on the clock. A free throw
by Devin Joint made it a 71-67 game.
Freshman Khalid King, a good 3-point shooter entered the game, but missed
from three. King then fouled Patrick
Meyers, who got one free throw to make it a five-point game. Jeremy Underwood, who has hit big shots for
A&T all season, also missed a three. Witter finally made a successful three
for A&T with 2.5seconds left, bringing A&T to within a possession.
The Aggies will play at Savannah State on Monday at 8 p.m.
at Tiger Arena, and will look to start a new winning streak against the Tigers. Alexander
added that he'll be looking to his seniors to step up their performance and to
play smart in the remaining games.
"It's going to be tough.
We've got to regroup tomorrow and refocus and get ready to play,"
Alexander said. "The next five games, I'm
putting it on the seniors."
