HOMEWOOD, Ala. – All five North Carolina A&T starters scored in double figures, and the Aggies men's basketball team secured season highs in rebounding and assists. But a tough stretch in the first half led to A&T losing its final game of the Samford Thanksgiving Multi-Team Event to host Samford, 101-83, Saturday evening at the Pete Hanna Center. The Aggies drop to 0-6 on the season as they await their first home game, a 2 p.m. tilt with The Citadel on Saturday, Dec. 2 at Corbett Sports Center. The Samford Bulldogs of the SoCon improved to 5-2. 

Graduate forward Jeremy Robinson scored in double figures in all three games of the MTE at Samford, scoring 17 points and grabbing nine rebounds on Saturday. Robinson averaged 17.3 points and shot 64 percent (16-for-25) from the floor and 83.3 percent from the free throw line (20-for-24). Sophomore Landon Glasper added 17 points, four rebounds and three assists, and in only his second start of the season, freshman Uchenna Kellman-Nicholes scored a season-high 16 points on 5-for-11 shooting. 

A&T played well early, using a 9-0 run capped by a Kellman-Nicholes 3-pointer and a Robinson low-post score off a pass from sophomore Camian Shell to take a 17-11 lead five minutes into the game. But Samford responded with a 9-1 spurt to take a 20-18 lead before Nikolaos Chitikoudis scored in transition off a pass from Evan Joyner to tie the game at 20-20 with 11:47 remaining in the first half. Things would turn from there. 

The Bulldogs scored 21 unanswered points over a five-minute stretch highlighted by four 3-pointers to take a 41-20 lead. Only with a Glasper 3-pointer at the 5:54 mark did the Aggies finally end the Bulldogs streak. But back-to-back threes from Samford's Dallas Graziani and Achor Achor gave Samford a 24-point lead, 47-23 with 5:20 remaining. Samford's lead grew to 27 before the Bulldogs walked into the locker room with a 58-33 halftime lead. 

The Aggies did get the Bulldogs' lead down to 13 in the second half, 86-73, with 4:51 remaining in the game, as junior Kyle Duke took a pass from Shell to score on a layup. The Aggies got the lead down to 13 again on a jump shot from Jalal McKie 36 seconds later. But the Aggies never got any closer as Achor led the Bulldogs with 26 points on 8-for-9 shooting. 

Shell contributed 10 points, seven assists and two steals. Duke also scored in double figures with 13 points. The Aggies secured season highs in points (83), rebounds (31) and assists as they head into their first home game. The Aggies also shot a season-high 44.3 percent (27-for-61). But Samford did become the fifth of six opponents this season to shoot better than 50 percent against A&T.