A&T STATISTICAL LEADERS: F Marcus Watson (18 PTS, 11 REBs, 3 ASTs); G Kameron Langley (9 PTS, 6 REBs, 3 ASTs). 

RADFORD STATISTICAL LEADERS: G Josiah Jeffers (18 PTS, 4 REB, 4 ASTs); F Dravon Mangum (6 PTS, 10 REBs). 

WHY A&T GOT THE W: Looking at the stat sheet, the Aggies dominated the Highlanders. A&T shot better from the field (47-36), shot drastically better from 3-point range (43-19), and made more free throws (24-16). The Aggie bench also outperformed Radford's, scoring 38 points compared to just 21 for the Highlanders. 

WHY RU DIDN'T GET THE W: The Highlanders stormed back into the game late, outscoring the Aggies 33-19 in the second half to force overtime. Radford did not come up clutch when it mattered, however, shooting just 4-of-13 in the extra period and turning the ball over twice. 

CRUCIAL: With the game knotted at 60 when triple zeros on the clock at the end of regulation, the first men's basketball game of the Big South Conference Basketball Tournament Championships went to overtime. The Aggies, who had scored just 19 points the entire second half, came out swinging in the overtime period, scoring 18 points in just five minutes. They rifled off an 11-0 run to start the period, capped by a thunderous fastbreak slam from senior forward Webster Filmore, making it 71-60, A&T. 

CHARLOTTE – The North Carolina A&T men's basketball team defeated the Radford Highlanders, 78-71, in the first round of the Big South Basketball Tournament Championships inside the Bojangles' Coliseum on Wednesday afternoon. 

Radford, trailing 41-27, came out with a different, more inspired brand of basketball to begin the second half. After back-to-back 3-pointers from Rashun Williams and Jeffers, the Highlanders had already cut the game to single-digits, 44-35, with 18:05 to play.

A&T would respond with a pull-up jumper from junior Demetric Horton, followed by a fastbreak layup from Filmore. A few minutes later, graduate guard Tyler Maye's driving layup put the Aggies up 12 with 12:26 to play.

  Things were looking great for A&T at that moment, but the team would go without a field goal over the next 11-plus minutes, allowing Radford to mount a comeback. 

The Highlanders slowly but surely got back into the game thanks to the scoring drought from A&T. The Aggies did shoot 4-for-6 from the free throw line to keep Radford at bay as long as they could, but with three minutes left, Bryan Hart's free throw tied the game at 58. 

Both teams went scoreless over the next two minutes until forward Dravon Mangum got fouled attempting a layup in the lane. Mangum missed the first free throw but made the second to give the Highlanders their first lead since the 15:25 mark of the first half.

Maye missed a jumper on A&T's next offensive possession, but the defense came up clutch, forcing a tough look that Jeffers missed, giving the Aggies the ball back with less than a minute remaining.

A&T called timeout, drew up a look for Watson, and the sophomore delivered in the biggest moment of his career. Watson waved off his teammates for an isolation drive past his defender for a layup and A&T's first basket in over 11 minutes to put them up one, 60-59, with 49 seconds to play.

Mangum got fouled again on the ensuing Highlander possession but split the trip to the free throw line again, leaving the game knotted at 60. Each team got a look to take the lead, but ultimately the game headed to overtime. 

That's when the Aggies kicked it into high gear and put Radford to bed permanently. They fired off an 11-0 run to begin the extra period. The spurt started with a pull-up jumper from Watson to take the lead. 

Then, Langley was weaving through the lane when he got a glimpse of Watson cutting back door, so he threw up the lob next to the rim, and Watson grabbed it and threw it down with authority.

Watson scored seven of the 11 points during the run and even assisted on that emphatic fastbreak slam from Filmore. 

The Highlanders knocked down a few 3-pointers to make it somewhat interesting late, but A&T shot 10-for-11 from the free throw line down the stretch. 

Junior forward Jeremy Robinson was enormous for the Aggies in the first half. His career-high coming in today's was 11 points. He poured in 14 in the first 20 minutes alone, highlighted by 3-for-3 shooting from downtown. He scored 17 for the game.

QUOTABLE: "Big-time win. Our guys came out, we just played Radford this weekend, and we knew it was going to be a street fight. We talked about rebounds, securing the rebound, and playing together, and if you look at the stat sheet, we have guys that did both of those things." 

A&T Head Coach Will Jones following the big win Wednesday 

"I think in the game of basketball, you have to have a short-term memory, and that's what our team did today. We just moved forward and stayed together. It was a moment that we hadn't seen all year. We were really together. Guys were uplifting me, helping me and that's what I think really pushed me forward to keep going. We were playing together, and I think that's the most we've been together all year." 

Watson on his team's mentality down the stretch 

GAME NOTES: 

• Coach Jones moves to 2-0 in conference tournament games and 2-1 in overtime contests as the head coach for A&T. 
• Since taking over the program, Jones is also 3-1 all-time in March. 
• Watson notched his team-leading 15th double-figure scoring game of the season on Wednesday. It was also the sixth time he has led the team in scoring this season. 
• Watson also secured his third career double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds. 
• With his three dimes tonight, Langley now has 896 for his career, putting him 16th all-time in NCAA history. With four more assists, he will become just the 15th player ever to eclipse 900.