DOVER, Del. – Senior guard Andre Jackson poured in a career-high 24 points on 10-for-20 shooting to lead North Carolina A&T over Delaware State 98-77 in Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) men's basketball action on Monday night at Memorial Hall.
 
The Aggies (7-11, 3-0 MEAC), winners of four straight, have scored 90-plus points in every game over that stretch. They have also outscored their opponents 409-281 in the four victories and their average margin of victory has been 31.8 points.
 
"The guys are buying into sharing in our success," said acting N.C. A&T coach Will Jones. "They are happy for each other. We compete for 40 minutes and they believe we can dominate a game."
 
Fellow senior Ronald Jackson was one rebound shy of a double-double securing 13 points and nine rebounds.
 
Freshman Fred Cleveland, Jr. added 13 points and swiped a season-high five steals. Graduate Devin Haygood finished with 12 points and six rebounds and sophomore Tyrone Lyons compiled 10 points to round out double-figure scoring for the Aggies.
 
In a back-and-forth affair, both teams put together impressive spurts. At the first media timeout, the Aggies found themselves trailing 14-10. N.C. A&T responded with an 8-0 run over the next three minutes to take the lead.
 
The Hornets (2-15, 1-2 MEAC) answered with an 8-0 run themselves to reclaim the lead before the Aggies went on an 11-0 spurt to pull ahead, 29-22, with 10 minutes remaining in the half.  N.C. A&T took a double-figure lead at 45-35 on two Kameron Langley free throws with 2:43 remaining in the first half.
 
The Aggies grew that lead to 13, their biggest lead of the half, as a Lyons completed a 3-point play that included a dunk to put the Aggies ahead 48-35. But the Hornets closed the half on a 11-2 to cut the Aggies lead to four at the half, 50-46.
 
"It's about defense was the message," said Jones about his halftime speech. "We have to defend. I challenged Ron Jackson and (Devin) Haygood to dominate. They responded."
 
The Aggies did just that. After allowing Delaware State to shoot 48.4 percent in the first half, they held the Hornets to just nine field goals and 32.1 percent shooting in the second half. The Aggies also forced 20 turnovers compared to their 10 and reaped the benefits scoring 33 points off turnovers.
 
After a John Crosby 3-pointer, the Hornets closed the deficit to three, 56-53. Crosby, the leading scorer in the conference, had a game-high 28 points.
 
Over the next 10 minutes, the Aggies outscored Delaware State 24-7 to open up a 20-point lead, 80-60.
 
Next, the Aggies will travel to Baltimore, Md. for a pair of contests against Coppin State on Jan. 18 at 4 p.m. and Morgan State on Jan. 20 at 7:30 p.m.