BALTIMORE (January 14, 2017) – The same play that made the North Carolina A&T men's basketball team give a sigh of relief was the same play that gave them agony. After being spared from losing on a tip-in at the end of regulation, the Aggies were beat on an overtime tip-in as Coppin State came away with a 75-73 win over the Aggies Saturday evening at the Physical Education Complex.
It marked the third time this season the Aggies have lost on a shot with less than five seconds to play after Rider beat the Aggies on a tip-in on Dec. 18 and Delaware State won on a last-second layup on Jan. 7.
“That shouldn't happen twice with the game on the line,” said Aggies coach Jay Joyner. “I don't like losing because we're not giving maximum effort. If they hit a shot at half court, you're disappointed but you can walk away with your head up because you fought. But to let a tip-in break your back? We have to fix it.”
N.C. A&T (1-16, 0-4 MEAC) found themselves down 67-64 with 68 seconds remaining, but redshirt junior Sam Hunt tied the game with his fourth 3-pointer of the game with 50.8 seconds remaining. After an Eagles timeout, Coppin's Josh Treadwell pulled up for a jump shot just inside the 3-point arc to give the Eagles a two-point advantage. Joyner took a timeout of his own to draw up a play for the Aggies and it worked as junior point guard Eliel Gonzalez found graduate center Aaron Scales underneath for an easy layup.
Coppin guard Dejuan Clayton came out of the Eagles timeout aggressive. He took the ball to the basket and laid it up off the back of the rim with a second left. Eagles center Chas Brown took advantage of not being blocked out and got his hands on the ball as it rolled out. But his tip-in rolled around the rim as everyone watched intently the ball spin around the rim before finally rolling out of the cylinder to send the game into overtime tied at 69.
The Aggies looked poised to benefit from the second chance as junior Davaris McGowens rolled to the basket and took a pass from Gonzalez to score on a layup for a 73-69 Aggies lead with 2:38 to play in overtime. But after two Coppin free throws, which were shot at the expense of the 6-foot-9 Scales' fifth foul with 2:30 remaining, the Aggies were called for an offensive foul. The Eagles (4-15, 3-1 MEAC) made the turnover hurt as Brown's dunk tied the game at 73 with 47.2 seconds to play. Coming out of a timeout, Aggies point guard Austin Williams was fouled and sent to the line for a 1-and-1. But Williams missed the front end and Brown rebounded his miss.
Keith Shivers tried to the win the game for Coppin, but he missed on a 3-pointer which led to Brown's game-winning tip-in with 1.8 seconds remaining.
“When you're limited at the (power forward and center) positions it's tough,” said Joyner. “With big Scales fouling out, McGowens (6-foot-7) had to play center, and we just didn't come up with that one stop or rebound that would have won us the game.”
N.C. A&T was led by Hunt and Donte Watson who had 19 points apiece. Hunt was 7-for-13 from the floor while Watson was 8-for-11 as the Aggies shot a season-high 54.5 percent from the floor. McGowens added 16 points and 11 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season. N.C. A&T held their biggest halftime lead of the season as the half ended with the Aggies leading 36-27.
Coppin was aided by Brown's 18 points and 10 rebounds, and the Eagles had a 30-9 free throw attempt advantage over N.C. A&T. The Aggies return to action 7:30 p.m., Monday, January 16 when they stay in Baltimore to face Morgan State at Hill Field House.
