EAST GREENSBORO – The North Carolina A&T men's basketball team won what looked reminiscent of a tournament game in March. 

A familiar opponent took away some of the Aggies best punches and counterpunches to make the Aggies grind out a win possession by possession and that's exactly what happened as the Aggies defeated the Howard Bison 71-67 Saturday evening at Corbett Sports Center. 

The win moves the Aggies to 14-14 overall as they seek their third straight winning season something the Aggies have not done since they had four straight winning seasons from 1990-94. More importantly, the Aggies are now 10-3 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) and hold a half-game lead over N.C. Central (9-3) and Norfolk State (9-3), two teams the Aggies have defeated this season. 

The Aggies were facing a Howard (2-25, 0-12 MEAC) that was winless in the conference. Yet, the Bison came to Greensboro with their intentions set on upsetting the first-place Aggies, something lower-seeded teams will be trying to do to the Aggies in Norfolk, Va., in the MEAC tournament next month. 

With 6:33 remaining in the game, two Wayne Bristol Jr., free throws tied the game at 57. Senior forward Ronald Jackson responded with two free throws of his own to give the Aggies a two-point advantage. Parker, who was 4-for-5 from 3-point range Saturday, put some distance between the Aggies and the Bison with a 3-pointer that gave the Aggies a 62-57 lead with 5 ½ minutes remaining. 

Howard did respond, however. They went on a 7-1 run that culminated with a fastbreak three from Nate Garvey to put the Bison ahead 64-63 with 2:57 to play. 

The lead remained at one for Howard, 65-64, 90 seconds later when Cleveland came off a down screen, took a pass from junior point guard Kameron Langley from the top of the key and netted a three from the elbow to give the Aggies a 67-65 lead. 

On the Bison's ensuing possession, Bristol missed a runner that Parker rebounded. The Aggies leading scorer, Ronald Jackson, tried to put the Bison away but missed a three with the shot clock running down. Graduate center Devin Haygood grabbed the miss for the Aggies and scored to give the Aggies a 69-65 advantage with 23 seconds to play. 

Langley and Cleveland clinched the victory with a free throw apiece.

"If you put yourself in a position to be in this type of game in the tournament, you have to be able to execute," said N.C. A&T acting coach Will Jones. "Guys have to have confidence. Fred (Cleveland, Jr.) missed some shots that went in and out all game, but we still had the confidence in him that he could make it. The same goes for Kwe (Parker)." 
 
The win capped a great night for the Aggies who celebrated Senior Day before the game. Ronald Jackson celebrated his Senior Day with another double-double as he finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds. It was his 12th double-double of the season and the 14th of his career. 

Andre Jackson and Haygood were also honored as seniors as Haygood finished with eight points and eight rebounds. Cleveland added 14 points and Parker finished with 12. 

Langley had nine points and 10 assists putting him only three assists shy of breaking the school record held by Thomas Griffis (582).

"This win keeps us on our path," said Jones. "It allows us to correct without our record reflecting what I thought was us not playing the way we're capable of."

N.C. A&T certainly looked like the superior team over the first 12 minutes of the game as they took a 28-14 lead. Howard went on an incredible 18-2 run, however, to take a 32-30 lead 90 seconds remaining in the half. 

Two Langley free throws tied the game at 32 before a Bristol free throw gave the Bison a 33-32 lead at the half. 

When you have a 14-point lead and you have a chance to take your lead to 20 and you don't capitalize, the other side of that is you're in a fight," said Jones. "Once they that lead disappeared, it was a fight after that." 

Three Bison did foul out including their leading scorer Charles Williams who broke the conference record for career points on Saturday. Bristol led the way with 26 points for Howard. 

The Aggies will close out their home schedule 7:30 p.m., Monday against Maryland Eastern Shore.