EAST GREENSBORO – When asked before the start of the season to evaluate where the 2022-23 North Carolina A&T men's basketball team can improve from the previous season, interim head coach Phillip Shumpert did not hesitate with his answer. 

 

The first-time Division I head coach who served as an assistant coach with the Aggies last season said his team has to improve their 3-point and free throw shooting. In their season opener against Edward Waters University on Monday, the Aggies showed they can get one of those accomplished this season. 

The Aggies cruised to a 100-61 win over the Tigers by tying a program record with 17 3-pointers made. The Aggies were 17-for-34 (.500) from three and shot 50.7 percent from the floor. The 17 threes tied the mark set by the 2007-08 team, who hit 17 against DePaul on Nov. 24, 2007. 

Sophomore and junior college transfer Kam Woods led the way with 22 points on 8-for-14 shooting from the floor and 4-for-8 shooting from 3-point range. Senior guard Demetric Horton went 6-for-10 from the floor and 5-for-7 from three, finishing with 19 points. 

"That was an area we wanted to improve on our 3-point shooting. We couldn't stop talking about it," said Shumpert, who recorded his first Division I coaching victory. "We had 15 threes in our exhibition game, and we came out tonight and hit 17. We've got some guys that can hit shots, so we must continue to try to get them open looks." 

Shumpert said the Aggies lost a few big men during the offseason, so it is essential to know they have effective outside shooting. 

Woods set the tone from the beginning. His first field goal attempt as an Aggie was a 23-footer that he netted to give the Aggies a 3-0 lead 30 seconds into the game. Horton, who led the Aggies in 3-point makes last season (53), followed two minutes later with a three from the corner. Woods hit two more threes within the first five minutes of the game as the Aggies took a 16-4 lead. 

Horton then pumped in another three. Division I transfer Austin Jonson followed with a vicious dunk before a Duncan Powell steal led to an easy layup for sophomore Love Bettis to complete the Aggies 10-0 run that gave A&T a 23-4 lead with 10:51 remaining in the first half. The Aggies would lead by as many as 42 in the blowout win. 

"Edward Waters is not a bad team," said Shumpert. "They won 16, 17 games last year. They have good shooters and Division I transfers, so we figured it would be a good tune-up before we play against an actual Division I opponent like Iowa on Friday." 

Justin Brooks' 3-pointer tied the school record with 1:08 remaining in the game. However, the Aggies were 11 of 19 from the free throw line, so the other half of Shumpert's improvement plan still needs to be executed.