Champaign, Ill. – North Carolina A&T men's basketball dropped a Thanksgiving showdown against the Ohio Bobcats, 84-72, Thursday evening inside the State Farm Center as a part of the multi-team event at the University of Illinois throughout the week.
 
"The guys came back and responded today," said N.C. A&T head coach Will Jones. "It's going to take some time to put it all together, but we will get there."
 
N.C. A&T (0-2) trailed 9-0 early and 23-11 with 9:49 remaining in the first half. From that point, the Aggies tightened up their defense forcing the Bobcats (2-0) into eight turnovers that turned into eight points.
  
Sophomore big man Harry Morrice began to assert himself late in the first half to keep the Aggies momentum going. Morrice dropped the hammer with a putback dunk following a Fred Cleveland, Jr. missed three-pointer to make it 32-29 with 1:21 remaining in the first half.
 
The Aggies forced a stop on defense before Morrice nailed a long ball to tie the game at 32. After an Ohio 3-pointer, Aggies junior Tyrone Lyons hit three free throws later to tie the contest at 35 at the break.
 
Senior guard Kameron Langley had four points, four assists and four steals in the first 20 minutes and Morrice scored a team-high nine points. Morrice finished the game with a career-high 13 points.
 
N.C. A&T took their first lead of the game, 36-35, on a Webster Filmore free throw. But the Bobcats were able to break open a close game In the second half by catching fire from deep. They shot 45 percent from three and 47.2 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes.
 
Ohio responded to the Aggies taking the lead by going on a 10-2 run as they jumped out to a 45-38 lead with 17:02 to play. N.C. A&T battled to keep the deficit within reach, but Ohio went on another run, this time a 15-4 spurt, and pulled away for good.
 
Lyons was the only Aggie to join Morrice in double-figures with 11 points. Langley turned in eight points, eight assists, five steals and three rebounds. Junior Blake Harris and sophomore Jeremy Robinson had eight points apiece.
 
After being out-rebounded 62-18 against No. 8 Illinois on Wednesday, the Bobcats had a 44-31 advantage on the glass against N.C. A&T.
 
The Aggies did shoot 86.7 percent from the foul line (13-for-15).
 
Ben Roderick was the high man for the Bobcats with 22 points on 6-for-9 shooting from 3-point range. Jason Preston added 21. The Aggies have one final game at the University of Illinois as they face Chicago State (0-2) 3 p.m., EST, Friday.