A&T STATISTICAL LEADERS: G/F Marcus Watson (17 pts, 5 rebs., 7-for-14 FGs); G David Beatty (14 pts, 5-for-9 FGs); G Demetric Horton (13 pts, 9 rebs., 3 offensive, 5 assists).

 HPU STATISTICAL LEADERS: G John-Michael Wright (28 pts, 5 assists, 3 steals, 8-for-17 FGs, 9-for-12 FTs); G Jaden House (16 pts, 7 assists, 6 rebs.); G Zach Austin (15 pts, 11 rebs., 3 offensive, 7-for-12 FGs). 

 WHY A&T DIDN'T GET THE "W": Transition D. The Aggies struggled throughout the first half and early in the second half in transition defense. High Point University used A&T missed shots to get the ball out to their guards for easy buckets on the other end. Thanks to transition layups, the Panthers shot .556 from the floor in the first half and 12-for-16 (.750) from inside the 3-point arc. For the game, HPU shot .686 (24-for-35) from 2-point range. 

 WHY HPU DID GET THE "W": John-Michael Wright and Zach Austin. Austin dominated on the boards, securing a double-double, and Wright played well in the open floor. It was the backcourt of Wright and Jaden House combined for 12 assists. Thanks to the Panthers guard play, they recorded 20 assists and turned the ball over 13 times. 

CRUCIAL: A&T trailed by as many as 16 points in the second half. But with 1:31 to play, Demetric Horton hit a 3-pointer to cut HPU's lead to two, 70-68. Then, after an HPU timeout, the Aggies put on their full-court pressure. The Aggies looked to have the Panthers in a compromising position, but somehow Austin got behind the Aggies defense; Wright found him sprinting free down the court and connected with him. Austin finished with a giant slam with 65 seconds to play.

 HIGH POINT, N.C. – The North Carolina A&T men's basketball made the final four minutes of Saturday's game at High Point University tremendously exciting and intriguing. 

It is the other 36 minutes that concerned A&T men's head coach Will Jones. The Aggies erased a 16-point deficit, but the HPU Panthers held on to defeat the Aggies 78-71 at the Qubien Center in Big South Conference play. The Aggies (8-10, 3-1 Big South) had their four-game winning streak snapped. HPU improved to 7-9 overall and 1-1 in conference play. 

HPU built a double-figure first-half lead thanks to an effective transition offense. HPU's Zach Austin took advantage of a blocked shot by Jaden House and turned it into a transition bucket to give HPU a 37-26 lead with 2:42 remaining in the first half. John-Michael Wright gave the Panthers their biggest lead of the first half, 13, at 39-26 with two free throws. 

A 7-0 Aggies run sparked by a Collin Smith 3-pointer chopped HPU's lead to six before House drew a foul on a 3-point attempt. House hit all three free throws to give the Panthers a 42-33 halftime lead. 

"We struggled with our transition defense tonight. They got to the free throw line, and they beat us to all the 50-50 balls," said Jones. "We came in here undefeated, feeling pretty good about ourselves, and didn't grind. When you forget how you got somewhere, you lose your focus; you get caught. We got caught tonight."

The Aggies cut HPU's lead to five, 42-37, in the first 80 seconds of the second half. But A&T started to struggle from the floor, and HPU's transition offense kicked in again as they went on a 9-0 run to take 51-37 at the 15:44 mark of the second half. 

Four minutes later, Wright hit a 3-pointer to give the Panthers their biggest lead of the game at 60-44. A&T cut the lead to 11 as freshman Jaylen Jackson followed his miss to make it a 64-53 game with eight minutes to play. 

But the Panthers built their back to 16, 70-54, with 3:52 remaining. That's when the excitement and intrigue started. Graduate David Beatty started the good time by completing a 3-point play. Junior guard Demetric Horton followed with a 3-pointer to cut HPU's lead to 10. 

Guard Tyler Maye then drew an offensive foul leading to a Watson layup set up by Beatty. After Horton blocked a shot on the defensive end, Beatty connected another three to chop the lead to five. Horton finished off the Aggies 14-0 run with yet another 3-pointer to make it a 70-68 game with 1:31 remaining. 

It's never over. The guys fought until the end, but we made too many mistakes in between," said Jones. 

Horton's jumper forced an HPU timeout. The Panthers then beat the Aggies pressure for an Austin dunk on the other end. 

"We made a mistake and left the basket open," said Jones. "I felt like if we didn't give up that dunk, we had a chance to tie it." 

Maye kept the Aggies in it with a layup, cutting the lead to 72-70. Two Wright free throws pushed the lead back to four. A&T had some opportunities to score on two offensive rebounds before Marcus Watson drew a foul. He made one of two to make it 74-71 with 31 seconds remaining. Wright answered with a free throw. 

On the other end, the Aggies missed two put-backs before House broke free for a dunk to seal the game. 

"I thought High Point came out with much more energy early in the game," said Jones. "They were able to build a lead and confidence. But, unfortunately, we didn't start playing consistent basketball until late, and you can't do that on the road.

 A miracle would have helped us win the game, but miracles don't happen all the time, so we caught an L tonight. They deserved to win." 

QUOTABLE: "Good teams come to play every night. I'm challenging our guys to be a good team night in and night out. That's a process we have to learn. You can't get too ahead of yourself. You have to stay even keel. We have to have the 1-0 mindset. We can't feel too good about ourselves because everybody in this league will fight. Every game is a one-to-two-to-three-point game every night. So you can't take plays off, and I thought we took too many plays off tonight."  

Coach Jones on playing well consistently

GAME NOTES: 

• The Aggies and Panthers played for the first time in 17 years. It was the Aggies first game in High Point in 18 years. 
• HPU outscored the Aggies 44-34 in the paint.
• HPU shot 11 more free throws than the Aggies. As a result, the Panthers made 15 free throws to the Aggies six. 
• Guard Demetric Horton tied a career-high with five assists. He also had five assists against Carver Bible College on Dec. 3. 
• Marcus Watson led the Aggies in scoring for the fourth time this season. 
• John-Michael Wright's 28 points are the most scored by an individual against the Aggies this season. 
• A&T now leads the series against High Point, 3-2.