BUIES CREEK, NC – North Carolina A&T featured the nation's eighth-youngest men's basketball team in 2023-24. It was also often one of the country's more banged-up teams, losing key players at various times throughout the season. But they were also one of the best teams at fighting with one hand behind their back, which the Aggies hope will translate to some success at the upcoming CAA Men's Basketball Championship Tournament in Washington, D.C.
Playing without their leading scorer, Landon Glasper, for the eighth time this season in addition to playing without 6-foot-9 center Jason Murphy, the Aggies lost a thriller to the Campbell Fighting Camels, 64-62, at John W Pope Convocation Center on Saturday.
The Aggies, who dropped to 7-24 overall and 5-13 in CAA play with their ninth straight loss, went into the game locked into the No. 12 seed, scheduled to play Friday afternoon at 2. They also knew they would get the winner of Saturday's William & Mary versus Hampton game, which the William & Mary Tribe won.
A&T won the first meeting between the two teams 76-69 on Jan. 20 at home inside Corbett Sports Center. The second matchup will take place at the Entertainment & Sports Arena. If A&T wins, they will advance to play fifth-seeded Towson on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
On Jan. 20, the Aggies had a healthier team, playing nine players during the contest against the Tribe. On Saturday, the Aggies played six players. All six played at least 25 minutes, with starting point guard Camian Shell playing all 40. It was Shell's 3-pointer that gave the Aggies a 57-54 lead with six minutes to play in the game.
Campbell scored the next four points before Nikolaos Chitikoudis scored inside to help the Aggies recapture the lead. The Camels responded again with four straight points to take a 62-59 lead with two minutes to play, leading to the Aggies calling a 30-second timeout. Uchenna Kellman-Nicholes missed a 3-pointer coming out of the timeout and fouled Jasin Sinani.
Sinani made one of two free throws to give Campbell a four-point advantage with 1:14 remaining. Thirty seconds later, Sinani returned the foul favor by hacking Shell during a 3-point shot attempt. Shell calmly went to the line and netted three free throws to pull the Aggies to within one, 63-62.
After Campbell's Anthony Dell'Orso missed a layup, Kellman-Nicholes grabbed the board, giving the Aggies a chance to win in the closing seconds. But Shell could not convert on a layup, leading to a rebound by Dell'Orso with 3.7 seconds to play. After a Campbell timeout, the Aggies fouled and sent Gediminas Mokseckas to the free throw line. He made one of two free throws, for which the Aggies did not have time to respond.
"Human nature says you come down here on the road. It's the last game. You know you're locked into a seed for the tournament. Landon's out, and Murph's not playing. Let's get this over with. These guys did none of that. They fought their tails off for 40 minutes, and I could not have been prouder of them," said A&T head coach Monté Ross. "I come away thinking we got everything we wanted but the win."
That includes a little prep for the Aggies' opening-round opponent. Ross said the Tribe and the Camels play similar offensive styles that force you to defend until the end of the shot clock.
"I thought we showed the ability to guard them the way we needed to guard them today, and that does excite me," said Ross. "Getting healthy would help, obviously. But being able to guard and concentrate defensively will be big against William & Mary. They force you to concentrate for 30 seconds on each possession. We concentrated, communicated, and rumbled for 30 seconds during each possession tonight."
Campbell and A&T split their season series after the healthier Aggies captured a 76-62 win in Corbett on Jan. 4. On Saturday, Shell led the Aggies with 22 points and six assists after making three 3-pointers and shooting 8-for-17 from the floor. Jalal McKie made five threes, scored 21 points, and grabbed eight rebounds as the Aggies out-rebounded the Camles 40-35.
Chitikoudis added 10 points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots. Sinani and Dell'Orso led the Camels with 14 points each.
