GAME NOTES
- The Aggies wore small No. 22 patches on their jersey fronts in memory of the career and life of A&T great Al Attles, who died in August at age 87.
- "We thought it was fitting to honor him and his family for the entire season," A&T head men's basketball coach Monté Ross said. "… We are honored to wear No. 22."
- The Aggies played the Morgan State Bears for the first time since defeating Morgan 76-70 in Baltimore, Md., on January 20, 2020.
- The last time Morgan came to Corbett was January 19, 2019, when the Aggies defeated the Bears 57-53.
- A&T leads the series 55-42, and they are 32-9 against Morgan in Greensboro.
GREENSBORO – Ryan Forrest found the groove early, and North Carolina A&T was up to the task down the stretch to finish off an 86-83 victory against Morgan State on Wednesday night at Corbett Sports Center.
Forrest just keeps building on good performances, posting a career-high 33 points – and the Aggies needed those. Yet Aggies coach Monté Ross realized the team was far from perfect in what he referred to as the first time dealing with high anxiety this season.
"What you want to do is give yourself an opportunity to learn from a win," Ross said, admitting that he was perturbed for a certain reason. "I told them it's because of the standard that they've set."
Still, the mission was accomplished as A&T improved to 3-2 this season.
"We got what we came to get," Ross said.
Forrest set his career high three nights earlier at The Citadel with 26 points, but this latest outing was more efficient. He shot 9-for-15 from the field with four 3-point baskets and drained 11 of 14 free throws. Nikolaos Chitikoudis cranked out 13 points, nine rebounds, five blocks, and four steals. Landon Glasper added 12 points.
"As long as we got the win, I'm happy," Chitikoudis said.
It wasn't all smooth late in the game, partly because of what Ross called uncharacteristic turnovers. Morgan State cut a 15-point gap to 80-77 in less than five minutes before a Chitikoudis dunk. Jalal McKie's putback pushed A&T to an 86-81 edge with 11.4 seconds left. Yet it wasn't safe until Wynston Tabbs' launch from just beyond halfcourt bounced high off the backboard.
"It's a good character builder for us," Ross said. "I'll be fine. We won the game."
A&T made 21 of 35 at the free throw line. The margin wavered in the Aggies' favor for most of the game, but the Bears were persistent. A&T appeared back in full control after McKie's corner 3-pointer made it 63-50. But a 10-2 run for the Bears made it interesting again.
Forrest converted a three-point play to recapture momentum, which changed hands several more times in the last 10 minutes. Forrest had 20 points as the Aggies led 44-33 at halftime, buoyed by an 11-0 run midway through the first half. Then he had A&T's first five points of the second half.
"I would take a shot and feel comfortable," Forrest said.
That made sense to his coach.
"He never met a shot he didn't like," Ross said. "I always want these guys to be aggressive and pick their spots. If you feel one of your teammates has a hot hand, feed him. Give him the ball and let him go to work."
Earlier, A&T broke out to a 24-12 lead, with one-third of those points scored by Forrest. The sophomore guard posted 16 of the Aggies' first 35 points. Tabbs, who has made previous stops with Boston College and East Carolina, led Morgan State with 16 points.
The Aggies will play road games at Buffalo, East Carolina, and Hampton before they're back at Club Corbett at 2 p.m. on December 7 against UNC Greensboro.
