PRINCESS ANNE, Md. (January 14, 2019) – Take away North Carolina A&T's 3-point shooting? No problem. Please meet Mr. Ibrahim Sylla.
The 6-foot-8 graduate center had a career night with 25 points and 10 rebounds on 9-for-10 shooting from the field and 7-for-8 shooting from the free throw line to lead the Aggies to a 67-58 win over Maryland Eastern Shore at the Hytche Center Monday night in men's hoops.
The win marks the Aggies fourth straight as they improved to 8-9 overall and 3-0 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). All three conference wins have come on the road for N.C. A&T marking the first time the Aggies have won three straight MEAC road games since they beat Howard, Morgan State and Coppin State during the 2011-12 season.
Sylla became the first Aggie this season to get a double-double through points and rebounds. His big day comes two days after the Aggies hit 14 3-pointers to beat Delaware State by 23 points. MDES obviously wanted to take the 3-point shot away from the Aggies and they were somewhat effective holding the Aggies to just 4-for-18 shooting from beyond the arc.
With the Aggies struggling early from the outside, Sylla quickly established himself on the offensive and defensive end. Sylla also had four blocks on the night and came away with many more deflections. Sylla's only miss from the field all night was a missed follow-up dunk attempt.
“These young men found another way to win tonight,” said N.C. A&T coach Jay Joyner. “We have been looking for Ibrahim to give us what he gave us tonight on a consistent basis. For him it's about confidence. Hopefully, he can carry on playing the way he played tonight.”
Graduate forward Terry Harris and junior guard Qua Copeland also scored in double figures with 11 points apiece. Senior Aaren Edmead played big coming off the bench with nine points, three assists and no turnovers. Fifth-year guard Amari Hamilton also hit some big shots off the bench.
“It was a great team effort even though it wasn't very pretty,” said Joyner. “We have talent and we're going to be okay as long as we continue to share the basketball.”
But more than big shots, it was the Aggies defense that made the difference in the second half. The Aggies only led by two, 49-47 with 12:50 remaining in the game over a MDES (2-17, 0-4 MEAC) team who came into the contest winless in the conference after three straight double-digit losses.
Hamilton helped to increase that lead to four when swooped down the lane and found an open Sylla for a dunk. Sylla then put back an Edmead miss to put the Aggies up six. Graduate guard Ryan Andino nailed a three to move the Hawks back to within three at 53-50. Sylla kept the Aggies going offensively when he took a pass from Harris, got fouled and scored on a layup that led to a 3-point play that gave the Aggies a 56-50 lead.
Harris then stepped out beyond 22 feet and connected on a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give the Aggies a 9-point advantage with 9:40 to play. The Aggies defense would clamp down from there. The Hawks went five minutes without a field goal before Isaac Taylor scored deep inside the paint. But Hamilton popped off a screen, took a pass from Edmead and hit a big jump shot just inside the arc to give the Aggies a 61-54 lead with 2:57 to play.
N.C. A&T hit 5 of 6 free throws to clinch their third straight win over MDES.
“If we can get back to playing solid defense like that, we're going to be very dangerous,” said Joyner. “We have already proven we can put up a lot of points even though we didn't score very many tonight. But that happens. The thing we always stress in practice is defense. Tonight, when we didn't shoot it well from the outside, our defense paid huge dividends for us.”
The Aggies, who are the best shooting team in the conference, shot 46.9 percent Monday night while holding the Hawks to 32 percent shooting in the second half.
MDES shot 47 percent in the opening half and opened the game on a 15-9 run. The Aggies rallied to take a 21-13 lead before a 6-0 Hawks run made it a close game throughout. The Aggies took a 36-35 lead into the half on Sylla layup.
Tyler Jones led the Hawks with 11 points. The Aggies return to action 4 p.m., Saturday, January 19 when they host the Morgan State Bears at Corbett Sports Center.
