WINSTON-SALEM – The North Carolina A&T men's basketball team dropped an 87-63 decision to Power Five opponent Wake Forest Saturday afternoon at LJVM Coliseum.
"I thought the guys competed for 40 minutes," A&T coach Will Jones said. "They hit 11 threes, and they had two guys absolutely on fire in the first half. For them, one of those kids, it was the first time he's ever done that in his career. We got down in the first half, but our guys continued to fight."
A&T dropped to 1-4 on the season. The Demon Deacons improved to 4-0. The Aggies got off to a slow start offensively, trailing 15-4 with 5 ½ minutes into the game. Graduate guard Alondes Williams had seven of Wake's first 15 points, finishing with a game-high 19.
Enter sophomore guard Milton Matthews (District Heights, Md.). Matthews knocked down a triple to make it 15-7, a sign of things to come. After a Wake 3-pointer, the Aggies fired off a 10-0 run culminating in another Matthews 3-pointer, and all of a sudden, A&T was within five, 24-19.
Matthews notched a career-high 15 points and team-best six rebounds in 28 minutes of action Saturday. Matthews shot 6-for-9 from the field, including 3-for-5 from 3-point range.
"I wanted to give (Matthews) an opportunity," said Jones. "He came into the South Florida game and was ready. I thought defensively he was where he needed to be, and I told him today I was going to give him a chance early. He can put the ball in the basket. He's been shooting it well at practice, and we've been struggling with some of the starters making some shots, so I said, 'Hey, let me give the young fella a chance,' and he delivered."
The Demon Deacons followed A&T's run with one of their own and ballooned the lead to 21 at the half, 50-29. However, the Aggies struggled in the final minutes, shooting 4-for-13 from the floor and 0-for-2 from the free throw line, missing the front-end of two one-and-one opportunities.
A&T could never entirely mount the run they needed to get back into the game in the second half. Wake held their largest lead of the day at 33, following an alley-oop dunk from Matthew Marsh.
The Aggies were very competitive on the glass against a Demon Deacons team that very clearly had the height advantage, only losing the battle 33-32. The difference in the game was found in the shooting. A&T shot 23-for-59 (33 percent), and Wake was 29-for-55 (53 percent). In addition, the Aggies held a heavy advantage in bench points, 48-23.
