GREENSBORO – North Carolina A&T sophomore guard Landon Glasper's shot-making gave the Aggies a sizeable lead, and the A&T's free throw shooting put an exclamation point on a 72-65 win over the Northeastern Huskies at Corbett Sports Center Thursday night.
Glasper scored a career-high 35 points, going 15-for-15 at the free throw line and 4-for-6 from 3-point range in the process. Glasper became the first A&T Aggie to score 35 or more points in a game since Femi Olujubi scored 37 on Nov. 18, 2017, at Jacksonville. In addition, he is the first Aggie to make 15 or more free throws in a game since Richaud Pack made 15 from the foul line on Feb. 3, 2014, at Howard.
Twenty-four of Glasper's 35 came in the second half. A&T improved to 5-13 overall and 3-2 in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA), putting together its first two-game winning streak of the season.
"I've always been taught to keep playing and not worry about anything else. Just play basketball," said Glasper, who reached the 30-point plateau for the fourth time this season and has scored 20 or more points nine times. "I just play the way I know how to play. When the ball is going in, the rim looks like an ocean to me."
Glasper started a 17-2 run by hitting two free throws to cut Northeastern's lead to 50-48. Glasper followed those free throws with a three before Northeastern's Luka Sakota fouled Glasper, shooting a 3-pointer, giving the scorer three more free throws that he connected to give A&T a 54-50 lead.
After Huskies guard Harold Woods followed his miss and Camian Shell hit two free throws for the Aggies, Glasper connected on another deep three to push A&T's lead to 59-52 with 7 1/2 minutes to play. Glasper then started a transition break off a defensive rebound, finding Jalal McKie racing down the floor for a layup. Glasper completed the 17-2 A&T spurt by knocking down two more free throws to provide the Aggies with a 63-52 with 5:03 remaining.
"The person you call a play for in a game has to be someone that is not afraid to miss," said A&T head coach Monté Ross. "The play is called, the shot is there, they can't be thinking about, oh no, what if I miss? No, you have to go do it. And that's what Landon is. Landon isn't afraid to miss a shot. If you're a scorer the way that he is, that's the type of mentality that you have to have."
After Glasper's two free throws, the Huskies did outscore A&T 11-4 over the next 3 1/2 minutes as Chris Doherty, who powered his way into the paint all night, did it one last time to cut the A&T's lead to 67-63. But the Aggies went 5-for-6 from the line over the final 90 seconds of the game to come out victorious.
A&T made 29 of 32 free throws on Thursday. Shell scored 12 points and went 8-for-8 from the line. McKie came off the bench and made all four free throw attempts, finishing with 11.
"Tonight was significant in that it was a home game, and we were able to protect our homecourt in league play, which is what you have to do. I am really happy for these guys and excited about the win," said Ross.
A&T led by as many as five in the first half, 24-19, with 3:49 remaining. But Doherty scored all seven points in a 7-2 run that tied the game at 26-26 at halftime. The Huskies took an eight-point lead over the first five minutes of the second half, 42-34 on a Rashad King putback. The Aggies outscored the Huskies 12-4 over the next three minutes to tie the game at 46 before Glasper heated up.
Doherty led the Huskies with 23 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots. The Aggies return to Corbett Sports Center on Saturday to face William & Mary at 2 p.m.
