NORFOLK, Va. – As the North Carolina A&T men's basketball team came over to the bench at the end of the first overtime, Aggies senior Bruce Beckford summed it up best: “It's March.”
Indeed, the matchup between the sixth-seeded Aggies and the 11th-seeded Coppin State Eagles in the 2016 MEAC Basketball Championship Tournament at the Norfolk Scope Arena had all the drama and excitement that March Madness is known for each year. Also synonymous with March Madness is there is a winner and loser. On Monday the Eagles outlasted the Aggies 98-91 in double overtime to advance to meet third-seed S.C. State on Thursday in quarterfinal matchup.
Beckford closed out his superb career at N.C. A&T with three straight double-doubles as he finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds on Monday. For the second time in three games junior Denzel Keyes matched Beckford's double-double, finishing with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Four more Aggies scored in double figures as senior Ahmad Abdullah had 16 points and six assists, graduate forward Ede Egharevba finished with 15 and Sam Hunt and James Whitaker added 10 apiece.
It was the Aggies first double overtime game in eight years.
“Losing in double overtime in a conference tournament is a tough way to go out,” said N.C. A&T head coach Jay Joyner. “I thought the guys gave effort tonight, but we just didn't make enough hustle plays down the stretch. But overall I'm proud of them. They fought hard to turn their season around so they have no reason to hang their heads.”
N.C. A&T ended the season 10-22 overall and they had 7-9 season in the MEAC. Joyner took over the program on Jan. 29 and led the Aggies to a 5-3 mark in conference play. But foul trouble would be a significant problem for his Aggies on Monday. Hunt missed most of the first half with two fouls. When Beckford fouled out of the game with 2:45 remaining and the Aggies trailing 91-86 in the second overtime, the Aggies had already loss Egharevba and Whitaker to disqualifications as well.
Despite the loss of firepower offensively, the Aggies didn't fold. Abdullah dribbled off a high screen at the top of the key and pulled up for a jump shot just outside the free throw line to score and cut the Eagles lead to three. Keyes then drove to the basket and was fouled. He connected on two free throws to cut the lead to 91-90 with 1:46 to play. Eighteen seconds later CSU guard James Sylvester drove to the basket and was fouled by Hunt. It was Hunt's fifth foul making him the fourth Aggie to foul out.
“It was tough playing without those guys. There is no question about it,” said Joyner. “I thought if we had locked up on defense a little more and not played with our hands as opposed to sliding our feet we would not have been placed in that situation.”
Sylvester hit both free throws to put CSU ahead by three. After an Abdullah free throw, the Aggies had several chances at grabbing a defensive board from CSU misses, but were never able to come up with the loose ball. Eventually, Lucian Brownlee was fouled and hit two free throws to put the Eagles ahead 95-91 with 24 seconds remaining. The Aggies never recovered.
Sylvester led five Eagles in double figures with 24, while Christian Kessee added 23.
“There are definitely a lot of positives to take away from this game,” said Joyner. “When you take a team to two overtimes you're fighting hard. They were just able to beat us to too many 50/50 balls tonight off of their misses. When they miss we've got to be able to come away with the ball. You can't keep giving them second chances.”
N.C. A&T had their chances to win the game in regulation. The Aggies led 78-77 with 1:02 to play in regulation. Kessee missed a 3-pointer to take the lead, but the Aggies weren't able to come up with the rebound. Kessee took the second opportunity to net a three from 25 feet out to give the Eagles an 80-78 lead with 10.2 seconds remaining.
Hunt, the fourth-best free throw shooter in the nation, answered quickly by driving to the basket and drawing a foul. Hunt hit both free throws with 2.2 seconds remaining to send the game into its first overtime.
Beckford's career will come to an end with more than 1,400 points and 700 rebounds. Abdullah, the Aggies other four-year senior, went from walk-on to one of the most steady point guards in the conference.
“I feel bad for the seniors because they were a big part of this turnaround,” said Joyner about the Aggies late-season surge. “It's shame, just when they started to get it going, it's over. But for the returners, we have to build on this and come back stronger next year.”
