GREENSBORO – Junior forward Bruce Beckford put the North Carolina A&T men's basketball team in position to make a run at upsetting the No. 1 team in the MEAC on Saturday by hitting two free throws with 13:25 remaining in the game.
Unfortunately, the Aggies could not put any offensive might behind those free throws as they fell to arch-rival N.C. Central 58-44 in front of a sellout crowd at Corbett Sports Center. The Eagles (18-6, 10-0 MEAC) won their 28th straight game over MEAC competition. It was also the Eagles' fourth straight win over the Aggies at Corbett.
Junior guard Ahmad Abdullah led the Aggies (6-19, 3-7 MEAC) with 12 points. Beckford added 10, but the Aggies made just five field goals in the second half and shot 22.7 percent over the final 20 minutes of the game.
“I thought we gave effort and played hard. I thought we did a good job of getting some stops against them on the defensive end,” said A&T head coach Cy Alexander. “But we got nothing offensively from the stops we made on the defensive side. That's huge because sooner or later they're going to break out because they're too good offensively.”
After Beckford's two free throws, the Aggies trailed 40-32. Over the next three minutes, the Eagles managed to score on a Nimrod Hilliard jumper and Karamo Jawara free throw. But the Aggies only countered with an Abdullah drive to the basket to go down 43-34 with 10:35 to play. A&T continued to halt the Eagles high-powered offense over the next three minutes. Two Austin Williams free throws cut NCCU's lead to 43-36 with 7:45 to play.
But during the four-minute stretch when NCCU was stuck on 43 points, the Aggies were 0-for-6 from the field. Eagles guard Anthony McDonald got the Eagles going again with a 3-pointer off a nice swing pass from Jawara. Aggies center Bryan Akinkugbe responded with a twisting, turning layup in the lane to make 46-38 with 6:07 to play.
On NCCU's ensuing possession, Jawara, a 6-foot-8 senior, hit the shot that all but dashed the Aggies hopes of defeating their fiercest rival. Hilliard threw the ball in the post to Jordan Parks who quickly rotated it out to Jawara who was standing all alone at the top of the key. Jawara knocked down the open three to give the Eagles an 11-point advantage, 49-38 with 5:10 to play.
“That was a big shot,” said Alexnder. “I thought if we would have got a stop there we still had a chance. I told our guys all week he can hit that shot. They needed to come out and contest. But somehow our big man got caught standing in the middle of the lane and he was wide open.”
Jawara finished with 14 points and eight rebounds. Hilliard finished with 14 points and four assists on 6-for-7 shooting and Parks added 12 points and 16 rebounds.
The Aggies overcame a 20-10 deficit in the first half to tie the game at 24 on a Beckford dunk. The Eagles quickly responded with a McDonald three, but the Aggies had a chance to go into the locker room down just two. But Williams missed two free throws just before the half as NCCU led 30-26 at the half.
“I thought those two misses were big,” said Alexander. “I thought we had a chance to go into the locker room on a high note, instead those two misses kind of deflated us.”
The Aggies return to action Saturday, Feb. 14 when they travel to Tallahassee, Fla., to face Florida A&M at 6 p.m.
