SAINT LOUIS – The North Carolina A&T men's basketball team led for almost the entire second half but saw its lead slowly slip away in the final minutes as it suffered a tough 57-54 loss to Saint Louis, Tuesday evening at Chaifetz Arena.
“We had some points in the game where our younger players got caught in the moment and it hurt us,” head coach Cy Alexander said. “We lost our poise and we can't make that mistake. Inexperience cost us this game.”
The Aggies (1-4) dropped its third straight game and was led by junior Bruce Beckford who recorded 17 points, with 13 coming in the second half. Freshman James Whitaker also added 13 points off the bench for the Aggies.
“I think Bruce is going to be our go-to guy but we need a perimeter go-to guy,” explained Alexander. “Our point guards haven't figured out how to play in the clutch yet. Bruce's role has changed over the years and now he's a leader. I think he's going to have some more good years for our program.”
A&T took a 21-20 halftime lead and extended it in the second half to 38-28 with a layup which was converted to a 3-point play by Beckford at the 10:32 mark. Saint Louis (3-1) tried to cut the Aggies' edge but a three by Whitaker with less than seven minutes in the game pushed them back up to a 45-36 advantage.
But the Billikens who shot 76.5 percent (26-for-34) from the free throw line connected on six free throws, along with a 3-pointer by Austin McBroom to tie the game at 45 with 3:12 remaining.
As the momentum of the game shifted towards the Billikens, the Aggies weren't able to recover its lead but despite playing under pressure, they never quit trying. SLU took a 53-49 edge over A&T but Whitaker hit a baseline jumper with 15 seconds left to bring the Aggies within two. Saint Louis hit four free throws in a span of five seconds to give it a solid 57-51 lead. Although the damage was done, Whitaker hit a three with two seconds in the game to cut A&T's deficit to 57-54.
In the first half A&T trailed 18-10 at the 8:12 mark but went on an 11-2 run to end the half.
A&T's defense held SLU to shooting 34.2 percent from the field throughout the game and 23.8 percent in the first half. The Aggies outscored the Billikens 26-14 in the paint.
Miles Reynolds finished with a game-high 19 points with 14 being scored at the free throw line. McBroom added 15 points and hit four of SLU's five 3-pointers.
A&T will face Radford on Friday, Nov. 28 at the Corpus Christi Coastal Classic beginning at 12:30 p.m.
