EAST GREENSBORO – The North Carolina A&T Aggies put an end to the Longwood Lancers' 11-game win streak inside the Corbett Sports Center Saturday afternoon, besting the North Division leaders, 70-62.
"Great win for us," said A&T head coach Will Jones. "The guys followed the game plan to a 'T.' I told you guys last week that I felt like the first time through the league, we figured out the adjustments we needed to make for the second half to give us a chance to win. I thought we limited their 3-point shots with our defense and our posts did a good job on the inside, making it tough for their bigs to score. I thought we did a big-time job."
A&T improves to 11-15 overall and 6-6 in Big South play while the Lancers drop to 18-6 and suffer their first conference loss to move to 10-1.
Graduate point guard Kameron Langley played like a man possessed, scoring a season-high 17 points to go with five assists, five rebounds and two steals. The Aggies led by one, 58-57, following a pair of free throws from Lancers forward Zac Watson with 2:43 remaining in the game.
Justin Hill scooped up a missed 3-pointer from David Beatty but lost the ball to Collin Smith, who scored quickly on a layup, extending the Aggie lead to three.
Watson missed a layup on the other end, and graduate forward Justin Whatley snatched the rebound. A&T did not get the offensive set they wanted, however, and the ball found Langley's hands several feet behind the 3-point arc with the shot clock waning. The graduate let it fly and knocked down a clutch triple to extend the A&T advantage to six, 63-57, with 1:36 left.
Another pair of Watson freebies made it a four-point game, but Longwood had to foul, and junior guard Demetric Horton matched him with two made free throws of his own to make it a 65-59 game.
Hill missed a 3-pointer for the Lancers and immediately fouled to send graduate guard Tyler Maye to the line for a one-and-one. He missed the front-end, but Langley came up with an enormous offensive rebound, forcing Longwood to foul again.
Smith made one at the line to extend the lead to seven, 66-59. A&T's stifling defense forced yet another miss from the Lancers, and Maye iced the game with two more free throws.
The Lancers came into the game averaging a league-best 77.8 points per game, but A&T held them to just 62. They also forced 13 turnovers leading to a 19-8 advantage in fast-break points.
Maye joined Langley in double-figures with 12 points and added four rebounds, while Whatley had eight points and a career-high nine boards. Altogether, A&T outrebounded Longwood, 39-29. They had nine second-chance points while the Lancers mustered two.
"I think with Kam, it's the same thing," said Jones on Langley's play. "He's been through the league one time. He sees how they are calling it, what the teams are doing, and I thought he guided our team. He looks like the Kam Langley of old right now. He looks confident, he looks sure of what he's trying to do, and he was the better point guard on the floor tonight."
A&T had high energy from the opening tip, and all five players were flying to the ball defensively. They held Longwood scoreless for the first 6:16 of the game and jumped out to an 8-0 lead.
A 3-pointer from freshman forward Jaylen Jackson followed by a layup from Beatty made it 18-5, the Aggies largest lead of the game. They had the lead in the ballgame for nearly 30 minutes.
Free throw shooting enabled the Lancers to get going offensively, knocking down 11 freebies in the first half thanks to a 12-5 advantage in foul calls. An 8-2 run cut the deficit to 26-20 at the under-four media timeout.
Junior forward Leslie Nkereuwem slammed home an assist from Isaiah Wilkins following a turnover from Langley to make it 27-22. After another turnover from Langley, Hill knocked down a 3-pointer to make it a two-point game.
The Aggies tightened up on defense and held Longwood without a field goal over the final 2:49 to take a 30-27 advantage into the intermission.
