EAST GREENSBORO – North Carolina A&T had the unenviable task of trying to slow down one of the hottest men's basketball teams in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) on Wednesday night at Corbett Sports Center. No, not College of Charleston. No, not Hofstra.
But they had to find a way to beat the once 2-19 Elon Phoenix. The Aggies ended the Phoenix's three-game winning streak with the help of a career night from sophomore Love Bettis. Bettis scored a career-high 20 points on a career-high six made 3-pointers to lead the Aggies to a 66-61 win. In ending Elon's winning streak, the Aggies halted their two-game slide.
Junior wing Marcus Watson also had 20 on 10-for-10 shooting from the free throw line. It marked his eighth 20-plus-point game this season and his fourth in the last five games. But Bettis' accurate outside shooting got a cold shooting A&T team going. The Aggies improved to 12-14 overall and 7-6 in the CAA. Elon dropped to 5-20 and 3-9 in conference play.
A&T trailed by as many as six in the second half, and the Aggies trailed 54-49 with 7 1/2 minutes remaining. The Aggies only shot 33.3 percent from the floor. That number might have been lower if not for what Bettis did over the game's final seven minutes. Bettis netted a three to get the Aggies to within two at 54-52.
Elon's Zach Evin responded with a 3-pointer from the corner before A&T sophomore guard Kam Woods whipped over a pass to Bettis for another 3-pointer. Because Bettis got going, he could shoot-fake a three and get into the lane for a floater to tie the game at 57-57 with 4:08 to play.
"We couldn't hit shots," said A&T interim head coach Phillip Shumpert. "We were getting stops, but we would get the ball up the court, miss a wide-open shot, or blow a layup. We went on a self-inflicted scoring drought, and they ended up with three points here, two points there, and they got the lead up to six or seven. Love Bettis came into the game and was able to hit some of those we were missing."
But even with Bettis hitting shots, the Phoenix scored the next four points to take a 61-57 lead. Elon had a chance to increase its lead, but Sean Holloran missed a 3-pointer, and Watson grabbed the rebound to start the Aggies in transition. He lasered a pass to redshirt freshman Duncan Powell that Powell turned into a 3-point play to cut Elon's lead to 61-60 with 2:08 to play.
The Phoenix's next two possessions resulted in turnovers, and Bettis made Elon pay with the latter turnover. Woods dribbled into the lane, drew several Elon defenders, and whipped a pass to his left to a wide-open Bettis for a humungous 3-pointer to give the Aggies a 63-61 lead with 1:12 remaining.
On its ensuing possession, Elon had two shot attempts to tie the game, but one resulted in a Powell blocked shot and the other in a missed layup by Hollaran that Powell rebounded and got fouled. Powell made one of two free throws to put A&T ahead by three.
Elon had one last shot at tying the game, but Torrence Watson's three went long to secure A&T's win. Woods added 10 points, five assists and four steals. Powell had nine points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots. Watson led Elon with a 17-point, 10-rebound double-double.
The Aggies hit a pivotal point of their season, where they play three straight road games, starting with Stony Brook on Saturday. The Aggies are two games behind UNC Wilmington for fourth place in the CAA standings. The top-4 finishers during the regular season will get a double-bye in the CAA tournament in Washington, DC, next month.
"Each night, you've got to come and be ready because anybody can come out and beat you in this league," said Shumpert. "This is a great league. Elon only had one Division I win, and then they beat Stony Brook, Northeastern, and Drexel. Monmouth only had one win now they've won three straight. There is not a night off in this league. Anybody can win if they come in with the right mindset, they're locked in, and they follow the game plan."
