GREENSBORO – North Carolina A&T trailed Piedmont rival and Coastal Athletic Conference (CAA) conference mate Elon by 16 at halftime. 

The Aggies trailed by 19 to the Phoenix in the second half before cutting Elon's lead to one. But the Aggies could never wholly overcome the enormous deficit they got themselves into as the Phoenix escaped Corbett Sports Center with a 69-65 win Saturday evening as the teams played in front of a national television audience on CBS Sports Network. The Aggies dropped to 7-16 overall and 5-5 in CAA play. Elon avenged the season sweep the Aggies earned over them last season by sweeping the Aggies during this season.  

"We didn't get off to the start that we wanted to get off to, that we needed to," said A&T head coach Monté Ross. "We dug ourselves a hole, obviously. I was really proud of how the guys fought back to get it back to a one-possession game for a good portion of the game's last five minutes. Digging ourselves a hole like that was probably the story of the game."

A factor in A&T's first-half issues was Elon guard Zac Ervin. After A&T freshman guard Uchenna Kellman-Nicholes hit a 3-pointer to cut Elon's lead to 29-22 with 3:47 remaining in the first half, Elon got a jump shot in the lane from Max Mackinnon and a fastbreak layup from TK Simpkins before Ervin caught fire. Ervin connected on all three of his 3-point attempts over the final two minutes of the first half to give the Phoenix a 42-26 halftime lead. 

"A lot of this stuff is based on life," said Ross. "We got smacked, and I was interested to see how we were going to respond to getting smacked the way we did in the first half. I'll take the response because I have to stay true to what I preach about life. A lot of times, it is not what happens to you but how you react to what happens to you. So, I was proud of the way we reacted with our play in the second half. "

The response took time. A Nick Dorn 3-pointer gave the Phoenix a 50-31 lead three minutes into the second half. Over the next seven minutes, however, the Aggies outscored the Phoenix 18-5 as Camian Shell drove down the middle of the lane to score on a layup to cut the Phoenix's lead to 55-49. 

Elon scored the next four points before the Aggies put together a 10-0 run that included a Shell 3-pointer and a baseline jumper from Jalal McKie. Shell's two free throws at the end of the run cut Elon's lead to 59-58 with 3:41 remaining. 

"It was a few words from coach, really," said Shell about the difference in his play from the first to the second half. "Going out there and playing how I know how to play, and getting out of my head so I can lead the team and being a coach on the floor. I know everyone feeds off me, so if they see me down, they will be down, and I don't want that for the team."

Elon had an answer of its own. Isaac Harrell scored on a putback before an Aggies turnover led to a Mackinnon 3-pointer to give the Phoenix a 64-58 with 2 1/2 minutes remaining. A&T scored three straight points before Mackinnon hit two free throws to push Elon's lead to five with 1:10 remaining. 

But Shell, who scored 22 points, dished out seven assists and had five rebounds, fought his way to the basket again to score on a floater to get the Aggies to within three, 66-63, with 54.2 seconds to play. But Elon's Rob Higgins put the game away with a tough 10-footer to give Elon a 68-63 lead with 22 seconds to play. 

"I thought our defensive intensity rose to the level that we are used to," said Ross. "But for whatever reason, it wasn't there in the first half. Why? If I could answer that for you, I would bottle it up, sell it, and be a millionaire."

McKie led the Aggies with a career-high 23 points on 5-for-13 shooting from 3-point range. Ervin came off the bench to score 12 points on 4-for-4 shooting from 3-point range for the Phoenix. A&T will play in its second straight nationally-televised game on CBS Sports Network when they travel to Charleston, S.C., to face the College of Charleston at 8 p.m. on Thursday from TD Arena.