GREENSBORO – The North Carolina A&T men's basketball team missed a grand opportunity to even its record in the conference as it dropped a heartbreaking 52-50 contest to S.C. State at Corbett Sports Center on Monday.
The Aggies (4-14, 1-3 MEAC) took the home loss in large part to an 8-for-17 night at the free throw line. S.C. State won at A&T for the first time in nine years.
“I thought they outworked us in the clutch,” said A&T head coach Cy Alexander. “I'm very disappointed in our effort. In a two-point game where you go to the line 17 times and you make eight, it's very disappointing.”
Steven Burrough had career bests in points (10) and rebounds (8), while Ahmad Abdullah hit all three of his 3-pointers and finished with 11 points and six rebounds. Bruce Beckford finished with 15 points and eight rebounds before fouling out with 25 seconds remaining.
After Beckford went to the bench with the Aggies trailing 52-50, S.C. State's Jalen White went to the line and missed the front end of a one-and-one. After Denzel Keyes grabbed the miss, Alexander quickly called time. Alexander called a play to get the ball in the paint to Keyes. If that wasn't there, 3-point shooter Arturs Bremers was supposed to pop out off a pin down screen for a game-winning attempt.
Instead, the Aggies struggled to get into an offensive set. Bremers came off a curl but was quickly confronted. Abdullah eventually got into the lane and forced up shot at the buzzer that was wide, giving the Bulldogs (5-13, 3-1 MEAC) the win.
“We wanted to see (Keyes) attack the rim,” said Alexander. “They did a good job of defending and then we looked a little tentative in trying to get a shot up.”
The Aggies were trying to win two consecutive conference games for the first time since March 2 and 4 when the combination was S.C. State and Savannah State. They were also trying to get another home win before having to go on the road to face Hampton, a team picked to win the league, and Norfolk State, a team that has consistently been near the top of the league the past few seasons.
The Bulldogs challenged those goals from the beginning. After A&T won in a blowout over Savannah State Saturday and S.C. State loss in a blowout to N.C. Central the same day, neither team's lead was larger than six on Monday.
Beckford gave the Aggies a 48-47 lead with 2:33 remaining in the game with a jumper from the free throw line. It was one of 13 lead changes in the game. Seconds later S.C. State's Greg Mortimer drove baseline to give the Bulldogs the lead back. Jalen White then pushed the lead to four with a 3-pointer to make it 52-48 with 52 seconds remaining. Two Beckford free throws with 29 seconds remaining cut the lead to two, setting up the end game excitement.
“We haven't matured yet to where we understand how hard we have to work physically and mentally,” said Alexander. “That is what is disappointing. Nothing compensates for just giving maximum effort, even in the little things.”
The Aggies play at Hampton on Saturday, Jan. 17 at 6 p.m. They play Norfolk State 8 p.m., Monday in Norfolk, Va.
