GREENSBORO – On Monday night the North Carolina A&T men's basketball team had their best offensive rebounder and defender foul out in Denzel Keyes. A foul out also cost the Aggies their leading scorer on the night Ede Egharevba and their leading scorer on the season Sam Hunt. Despite that the Aggies did battle before losing to Bethune-Cookman 83-77 in overtime at Corbett Sports Center.
The Aggies (8-19, 5-7 MEAC) lost its first conference game under new interim head coach Jay Joyner after three straight conference wins after he took over the program on Jan. 29. The loss cost the Aggies a chance to move into a tie for fourth place. Instead the Aggies stand in seventh place while the Wildcats (10-16, 7-5 MEAC) stayed in fourth.
“Our young men have no reason to walk around with their heads down after tonight,” said Joyner. “I just thought the thing we hang our hats on – defense – wasn't very good tonight. Minor setback because we're going to continue to work and do things the right way.”
Egharevba led the Aggies with 20 points and seven rebounds. Sam Hunt and Ahmad Abdullah added 15 points apiece. Keyes had five offensive rebounds before fouling out with 9:16 remaining in the game. Egharevba left the game with 3:27 remaining in regulation and Hunt left with the game out of reach late in overtime.
“You saw guys out there late in games like Nick Reese, Deion James and James Whitaker,” said Joyner. “But it's about the guys who want to work hard. We felt like we could still win with the guys on the floor. I hope tonight gave those guys some confidence going forward.”
N.C. A&T got an excellent offensive play from Hunt as his left-hand layup gave the Aggies a 73-72 lead 2 ½ minutes into overtime. Jordan Potts gave the Wildcats the lead back along with a big boost when he pulled up from 25-feet to knock down a 3-pointer. The Wildcats never lost the lead again even though the Aggies, trailing 79-75 with 57 seconds remaining, had a chance to cut the lead to one.
But Whitaker, who had 11 points off the bench, saw his 3-pointer from the top of the key rim in and out. Seconds later Randy Holmes' 3-ponter didn't miss as his shot would seal the win for the Wildcats (10-16, 7-5 MEAC).
The Wildcats overcame a 10-point second half deficit to send the game into overtime. A 12-0 Wildcats run gave them a 53-51 lead with 10:27 remaining in regulation. BCU had a four-point lead with 1:07 remaining but two Hunt free throws cut the lead to two with 57 seconds to play. On the Wildcats next possession, Nick Reese knocked the ball out of Smith's hand and tossed a pass up court to Hunt to tie the game at 69 with 17 seconds to play.
Potts missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer to send the game into overtime.
“To be brutally honest the most disappointing part of the game was losing the 10-point lead,” said Joyner. “Anytime you have a 10-point lead in the second half and you're not able to put a team away and win the game, it's a tough pill to swallow.”
Ron Smith led the Wildcats with 20 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots. Potts had 21 points and six assists, and Diamante Lewis added 12 points and 11 rebounds off the bench.
The Aggies head to Baltimore to play Morgan State Monday at 7:30 p.m.
