GREENSBORO (February 11, 2017) – North Carolina A&T hit tough shots. North Carolina A&T hit long shots. North Carolina A&T drove to the basket to set up easy shots. The Aggies hit every type of shot you would want a men's basketball team to hit to win a game. Unfortunately, Florida A&M was doing much of the same when they had the ball, plus they had the good fortune of hitting 25 of 27 from the free throw line as they downed N.C. A&T 83-77 Saturday evening at Corbett Sports Center.
Both teams shot the ball well with the Aggies shooting 50.9 percent while the Rattlers shot 49.1 percent including 56 percent in the second half. Redshirt junior Sam Hunt led the Aggies with 19 points and five assists. Backcourt mate Amari Hamilton added 17 on 7-for-10 shooting. Redshirt junior James Whitaker continued to score for the Aggies as he finished with 15 points and seven rebounds. Whitaker has scored a combined 45 points in his last three games while scoring in double figures in all three.
“We traded a lot of baskets tonight and that's not how this game is won,” said N.C. A&T coach Jay Joyner. “It doesn't matter what defense we're in, whether we are in man or zone, at the end of every possession you have to be able to guard the basketball. I thought tonight might be our night, but we didn't guard the ball on the perimeter and we didn't guard the ball in the post. We let another winnable game get away from us.”
After the Aggies (2-23, 0-10 MEAC) led most of the first half, Florida A&M (7-17, 5-6 MEAC) played with the lead most of the second half. Despite this fact, the Aggies never gave the Rattlers much room to breathe. The Rattlers were able to take their biggest lead of the game with 4:42 remaining as two Nasir Core free throws put the Rattlers ahead 72-66.
Hamilton quickly closed that gap with a drive to the basket for a score. Fellow point guard Austin Williams then hit an incredibly tough shot as he was falling down and the shot clock was winding down to zero to put the Aggies down two at 72-70. N.C. A&T had a chance to take the lead as a missed Derrick Dandridge layup led to a defensive board by Whitaker. But Whitaker's three misfired with 2:29 to play. From there the Aggies had trouble getting defensive stops.
Dandridge took a pass from Marcus Barham 10-feet from the basket and swished a short jumper to put the Rattlers up four. Whitaker answered with two free throws, but Dandridge scored again to keep the lead at four. Again, it was Whitaker with the Aggies' response. His three in front of Aggies fans on the opposite of the Aggies bench cut the Rattlers lead to one, 76-75, with 1:15 to play.
The Aggies were able to defend the Rattlers in an effective zone on the next possession. But as the shot clock ticked down, the Aggies rotation to Barham came to slow as Barham was able to net a heart-wrenching 3-pointer to give FAMU a 79-75 advantage with 42 seconds remaining.
“I felt the effort was there tonight for the most part. I thought it was much better in the first half than the second half. We made a lot of tough shots offensively in the second half, but we didn't make necessary stops. That was the game.”
Even after Barham's big shot, the Aggies still fought. Hunt found fellow Greensboro native Raymon Pratt cutting to basket to cut the lead to two. But on FAMU's ensuing possession, Justin Ravenel connected on two free throws to ice the game for the Rattlers. Barham led FAMU with 22 points.
“Everybody that comes into our gym shoots more free throws than we do,” said Joyner whose team had a 27-17 free throw attempt deficit, Saturday. “That means we're settling for a lot of jump shots instead of being the aggressors. That has to change.”
N.C. A&T will see if those changes will be effective 7:30 p.m., Monday as they face South Carolina State at Corbett.
