GREENSBORO (February 17, 2018) – It was Senior Day at Corbett Sports Center for North Carolina A&T men's basketball Saturday evening at Corbett Sports Center, and the seniors certainly acted like it was their day.
The Aggies got a combined 60 points from their honorees to avenge an earlier loss to the Howard Bison by earning an 83-69 win. The Aggies (16-11, 9-3 MEAC) honored fifth-year forward Denzel Keyes, graduate guard Devonte Boykins, senior forward Davaris McGowens, senior guard Austin Williams, senior guard Amari Hamilton and senior guard Donte Watson.
Keyes finished with 18 points and seven rebounds. Boykins, who played three seasons at Georgia Southern and earned his undergraduate degree from the university before transferring to N.C. A&T for his final season of eligibility, tied a season high with 18 points on a season-high five 3-pointers made. McGowens chipped in with his ninth career double-double by posting 17 points and 13 rebounds. A youngster also joined the party as freshman point guard Kameron Langley posted his first career double-double with 11 points and 10 assists.
“Tonight, was a special night because we're talking about seniors,” said N.C. A&T coach Jay Joyner. “I'm really, really happy for them. They are a great group of young men, I'm extremely proud of them and I will never forget this year's team for many reasons.”
Perhaps one of the reasons the group is so special is because of the revival the group has constructed for the program this season. With the win the Aggies are guaranteed to finish the regular season with a winning record for the first time since the 1992-93 season when they finished the regular season 14-12. The senior group is also supervising one of the best turnarounds in NCAA Division I history.
The NCAA record for best Division I improvement is UTEP's 18-game turnaround from 6-24 in 2002-2003 to 24-8 in 2003-2004. The Aggies are in the midst of a 13-win turnaround from their 3-29 2016-17 season. N.C. A&T has a chance to have more regular-season wins than they have had since winning 18 games during the 1991-92 season. Another win will guarantee the Aggies their first winning season since 2012-13 when they finished 20-17.
“I'm constantly getting on them about things, some are starting to get it, some are still resisting, but a good coach told me one time if you're not going to teach then you're not doing right by your basketball players. I thought tonight we had a good team win.”
Howard never led on Saturday after defeating N.C. A&T 90-88 in overtime in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 22. Other than the 46 seconds the game was tied on Saturday, the Aggies led throughout. The Aggies got off to a 14-point lead over the first 10 minutes of the game as a Boykins 3-pointer gave the Aggies a 22-8 lead. The Bison got to within eight, 32-24, on a R.J. Cole layup with 1:34 remaining in the first half. But a 3-pointer from junior Japhet Kadji gave the Aggies a 36-24 lead before Howard's Charles Williams drove down the lane to score put the Bison down 36-26 at the half.
Over the first 3 ½ minutes of the second half, Howard (8-20, 5-7 MEAC) outscored the Aggies 10-4 to get to within four at 40-36. The Aggies eventually got the lead back to double figures as a Langley steal and dish to Keyes gave the Aggies a 51-41 advantage with 13:17 to play. The Bison then turned to their two stars to cut into the Aggies lead again.
A 3-point play from Cole got the Bison to within seven at 53-46. A jumper by Williams got the Bison even closer before a Kadji drive to the basket put the Aggies ahead 57-50 with 10:17 remaining in the game. Over the next three minutes, the Aggies worked to get the lead back to double digits. After a Cole 3-pointer cut the Aggies lead to 59-53, the Aggies put together an 8-0 run highlighted by four Langley points to give the Aggies a 67-53 lead with 5:43 to play. The Bison never got the lead under 10 again.
Cole, the conference's leading scorer at 23.6 points per game, had 21 points on 7-for-19 shooting. Williams, the conference's third-leading scorer at 19.7 points per game, had 11 points on 5-for-14 shooting.
“I thought up there we spent a lot of energy fullcourt in defending Cole,” said Joyner. “Forty-eight hours ago, I sat down with the staff and said I would like to put in a defense we used when I was at Rutgers 10 years ago. Tonight, it was phenomenal. We got stops and it took them a while to figure it out.”
N.C. A&T's seniors will actually play their final games at Corbett on Monday night when the Aggies go for the season sweep of Maryland Eastern Shore at 7:30. Savannah State's loss to Norfolk State on Saturday, put the Aggies to within a game of first place. The Aggies go on the road for their final three games at Florida A&M, Bethune-Cookman and North Carolina Central.
