TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (February 24, 2018) – North Carolina A&T had a difficult setback in their pursuit of a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference regular-season title as they suffered a tough 83-77 road loss to Florida A&M Saturday evening at the Lawson Center. Four Aggies reached double figures in scoring led by senior Denzel Keyes' 16 points.
Senior Davaris McGowens had 15 points and the N.C. A&T bench exploded for 31 points anchored by the duo of junior Aaren Edmead's 15 points and sophomore Femi Olujobi's 14 points.
Bethune-Cookman defeated Savannah State Saturday to put the Wildcats in first place at 11-3. N.C. A&T (17-12, 10-4 MEAC) dropped into a third-place tie with SSU with Hampton improving to 11-4 in the league with a win over Morgan State. The Aggies play at B-CU Monday night at 7:30 in a game they need to win to stay in contention for a regular-season crown.
FAMU grabbed the momentum capping an 11-4 run over the next two minutes and led 66-59 after a3-pointer by Marcus Barham. With 7:01 to go, McGowens sparked an Aggie 6-0 run after making two free throws. A layup by freshman Kameron Langley, followed by a pair of free throws by Edmead got the Aggies to within one, 66-65, with 4:46 to go.
The Aggies reclaimed the lead, 69-68 on a reverse layup by Edmead with 3:50 remaining in the game. A pair of FAMU free throws put them ahead shortly after. But Olujobi's 3-pointer with 1:30 put the Aggies back on top 74-73. The Rattlers hit four consecutive free throws taking a 77-74 lead with under a minute to play.
Keyes kept the Aggies close making two free throws with 39 seconds remaining to cut the FAMU lead to one, 77-76. After a timeout, the Rattlers drew a play for their leading scorer Desmond Williams and he delivered by scoring to give the Rattlers a 3-point advantage with 14 seconds to play.
With a three-point advantage, FAMU fouled Edmead before the Aggies could attempt a game tying 3-pointer. He made it a two-point by splitting the free throws with six seconds remaining. A late turnover by N.C. A&T and four made free throws by FAMU clinched the win for the Rattlers.
N.C. A&T got off to a quick start against the Rattlers. Junior Kwei Lartey's 3-pointer at the 13:58 mark was the beginning of an 11-3 run by the Aggies. The shots continued to fall as both McGowens and Olujobi scored easily in the post. McGowens scored seven within the opening nine minutes to help the Aggies take a 25-14 lead with 9:39 to play in the first half.
The Rattlers began to chip away at the Aggies lead in the final six minutes of the half. With two minutes to go, FAMU took a 33-32 lead and pushed it to three after another Aggies turnover. McGowens' layup brought the deficit back to one, 35-34 with 1:35 on the clock and then free throws by Lartey with a little more than a minute to play pushed the Aggies back in front, 36-35. On the next possession, however, the Rattlers drained their fourth 3-pointer of the first half and carried a 38-36 advantage into halftime.
FAMU opened the second half by building a 51-43 lead at the 14:09 mark. Keyes ended the 7-0 run by FAMU by hitting two free throws and making two shots in the paint off two assists from Edmead. The Aggies tied the game at 55 with 9:26 to play on a layup by sophomore Raymon Pratt before the exciting ending.
FAMU's Williams and Barham each scored 22 points while Elijah Mayes scored 18 points. N.C. A&T struggled from long range going 3-for-14 and 1-for-9 in the second half.
