GREENSBORO (February 7, 2017) – After the North Carolina A&T men's basketball team defeated Allen University 86-78 Tuesday night at Corbett Sports Center to end a bruising 22-game losing streak, Aggies head coach Jay Joyner was asked if during the course of the game was he afraid the Aggies would slip back into some bad habits that would cost them the game.
“Listen, when you've lost 22 consecutive games you realize anything is possible and almost any and everything can go wrong,” said Joyner in a joking manner as he had to pause to wait for those gathered around him to finishing laughing at his humorous statement. Joyner even cracked a smile before finishing his statement by saying, “Yes, it crossed my mind.”
But in reality, Joyner was dead serious. The Yellow Jackets (10-15), an NAIA team in Columbia, S.C., that plays out of the Appalachian Athletic Conference, had enough good moments to cause the Aggies a few worries. Redshirt junior Sam Hunt alleviated those worries for the Aggies by scoring a season-high 31 on 9-for-12 shooting from the field and 6-for-9 shooting from 3-point range. Redshirt junior James Whitaker tied his career with 17 points as he added six rebounds and two steals to his totals. Freshman Raymon Pratt came off the bench to score 12.
Yet at the 7:37 mark of the first half, the Yellow Jackets held a 36-26 lead over the Aggies. But Pratt and junior Eliel Gonzalez gave the Aggies a boost off the bench as each man had four points during a 12-0 Aggies run. Pratt and Gonzalez capped the run as Gonzalez grabbed a defensive rebound and got the Aggies out in transition where he found a sprinting Pratt going to the basket for an easy layup and a 38-36 Aggies lead.
After two Demetrius Richardson free throws, Hunt ended the first half by hitting two consecutive 3-pointers to give the Aggies a 44-38 lead. N.C. A&T then opened the second half with consecutive threes from Hamilton and Whitaker. Pratt would give the Aggies their biggest lead of the night as he put back his own miss to give the Aggies a 56-42 3 ½ minutes into the half.
Allen's Brandon Moore started to assert himself inside to help the Yellow Jackets rally. He scored seven points in a span of five minutes to help the Yellow Jackets cut the Aggies lead to 59-54 with 11:26 to play. N.C. A&T (2-22) began to take control of the game again 5 ½ minutes later as two Pratt free throws and a Pratt fastbreak layup gave the Aggies a 74-62 lead.
Allen refused to let the Aggies rest easy. An Arvel Atwater 3-pointer cut the Aggies lead to 79-71 with 2:27 remaining. Hunt answered by making two free throws, but Atwater answered quickly by hitting another three to cut the Aggies lead to seven. The lead got down to six with 1:40 to play, but Pratt was able to make a terrific pass to senior Mike Owona for a layup to all but put the Yellow Jackets away with an 84-76 lead with 1:17 to play.
“It's been a long time coming,” said Joyner, channeling is inner Sam Cooke as he discussed the Aggies win. “You never go into a season thinking you're going to experience some of the things we have, so any win is a good win. Winning this is huge for us because winning breeds confidence. (Junior Aggies guard) Amari Hamilton said it best, 'let's keep it going.'”
After two straight non-conference games in the middle of their conference schedule, the Aggies will now try to end their 0-9 streak in the conference this season as they welcome Florida A&M to Corbett Sports Center Monday night at 7:30.
“I thought the guys handled themselves well after the win,” said Joyner. “We understand we have to start preparing for Florida A&M because Florida A&M is a better team than Allen.”
