JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The North Carolina A&T men's basketball team suffered a 63-54 loss at the hands of the Jacksonville Dolphins inside Swisher Gym on Saturday afternoon
"Defensively, we are playing okay," said A&T coach Will Jones. "We have not been able to put the offensive piece together. Today, turnovers cost us the game. We have to keep learning to play together."
Graduate guards Kameron Langley and David Beatty had a team-high 12 points apiece and were the only Aggies (0-2) in double-figures. Freshman guard Marcus Watson, who came into the game as the team's leading scorer, was close with nine points to go with five rebounds.
Despite the loss, it was a historic night for Langley as he became A&T's all-time leader in steals, passing Phillip Allen (1991-1995). He recorded five in the game, which puts him at 230 for his career.
"Just blessed," said Langley. "It's always good to have your name in the same breath as Phil Allen and Thomas 'Ice' Griffis. It shows that my game is more versatile than it seems."
Both teams had a slow start, with Jacksonville (2-0) holding a slim 5-3 lead at the first media timeout with 14:29 remaining in the first half.
From there, A&T claimed their first lead on a 3-pointer from Watson to make it 6-5. However, that lead was short-lived as the Dolphins took it back a few moments later on a pair of Tyreese Davis free throws.
The Aggies struggled to get anything going offensively for much of the first half, often settling for a 3-pointer late in the shot clock. A&T shot 7-for-24 (.292) from deep in the game. They also turned the ball over 17 times compared to five against UNC Greensboro in their first contest.
The Dolphins saw their lead grow to as much as 10, 21-11, with 4:54 left in the first half following a free throw from Jordan Davis, JU's leading scorer on the night with 18 points.
A&T responded, however, with a 10-3 run to close the gap to three, 24-21, heading into the locker room.
A layup from junior guard Demetric Horton cut the deficit to one, but JU retaliated with a short jumper in the paint from Dolphin forward Osayi Osifo. JU outscored A&T 30-20 in points in the paint.
A&T was still within three, 41-38, before the Dolphins executed a 15-3 run and jumped out to their largest lead of the game, 56-41, with 5:44 remaining. The Aggies went on a run of their own, aided by a combined nine points from Langley and Beatty to make it 58-54 with just over 90 seconds to play. But turnovers and missed shots halted A&T's momentum.
The Aggies now look to their next opponent in the University of South Florida. The teams are slated to compete on Monday, Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. in Tampa, Fla. . The Aggies are now 1-4 in the state of Florida under Jones.
