SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The North Carolina A&T men's basketball made another gallant effort without their leading scorer and rebounder in senior Bruce Beckford in a 78-68 loss to USC Upstate at the Hodge Center on Tuesday night. But there is no question they need him back.
Without Beckford's presence the Aggies still had their chances. They trailed most of the game, but never by double figures in the second half and they cut Upstate's lead to one several times and even tied it once. But they never could come up with the key stop or the key basket to overtake the Spartans (6-11) as they outrebounded the Aggies 42-28 and shot 51 percent from the floor and 52 percent from 3-point range.
“He will make a heckuva difference,” said N.C. A&T head coach Cy Alexander. “He's our best player. There is no question about that. Plus, he is a guy who is averaging seven rebounds and 16 or 17 points. We need those numbers. So if all goes well we'll have him Saturday.”
The Aggies (5-11) play one of the more physical teams in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference in Savannah State on Saturday as they re-enter conference play after beating Howard and Maryland Eastern Shore in December. Alexander wanted his team to go into conference play with at least three wins in their final five games before Savannah State.
But that goal was derailed by injuries to Beckford, Sam Hunt and Joshea Singleton. The Aggies had Hunt back on Tuesday as he and Khary Doby finished 17 points apiece. Doby's point total matched a career he set on Nov. 24, 2013 at Georgia Tech. Ahmad Abdullah had 11 points, five assists and no turnovers. Hunt was able to hit some big shots for the Aggies in the clutch including a 3-pointer to tie the game at 65 with 3:07 remaining in the game. But the Achilles heel of rebounding stung the Aggies over the final three minutes.
On Upstate's next possession, 6-foot-11, 280-pound Michael Buchanan was able to tip-in his own miss to give the Spartans a two-point lead. Hunt made one of two free throws to cut the lead to one. Freshman Mike Cunningham followed with two consecutive crucial 3-pointers for the Spartans. The first came from the elbow to put the Spartans ahead by four.
Hunt and Doby helped the Aggies answer as Doby slid back door and took a pass from Hunt to make it 70-68 with 1:43 to play. But Cunningham went to the corner on Upstate's next possession and swished a three for a five-point advantage with 1:27 remaining. Redshirt sophomore James Whitaker had a chance to keep the Aggies in the game as he grabbed an offensive board. But his layup rimmed which led to a transition layup for Deion Holmes as the Spartans increased their lead to 75-68 with 51 seconds remaining.
”I'm disappointed in our defensive and rebounding effort,” said Alexander. “We regressed defensively and on the glass. We were a day late and a dollar short. There was no sense of urgency. We cannot take this type of effort to Savannah.”
Cunningham led the Spartans with 19 points on 5-for-8 shooting from three. Buchanan finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds. The Aggies and the Tigers tip at 4 p.m., on Saturday.
