WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – It appeared for a moment that North Carolina A&T sophomore guard Jahnathan Lamothe would be the hero to send Saturday afternoon's Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) men's basketball game against the William & Mary Tribe into overtime at Kaplan Arena.
But it was only a moment. The Tribe answered Lamothe's game-tying 3-pointer with a 40-foot buzzer-beater by Keller Boothby to defeat the Aggies 81-78. It added to the list of A&T's heart-wrenching losses this season.
"We have to be committed to the process without being emotionally attached to the results," said Aggies head coach Monté Ross. "The process we have been on in terms of our practices and in terms of the way we played today. I'll take that. The results will come if we continue to lay it all out."
Sophomore Aggies guard Ryan Forrest had 27 points, six rebounds and two blocked shots on 11-for-23 shooting. Junior teammate Landon Glasper added 24 points, but the Aggies fell to 4-14 overall and 0-5 in the CAA. Camian Shell added 10 points, four assists and three steals.
Meanwhile, the Tribe is in first place in the CAA with a 9-7 record overall and a 4-0 mark in league play. Noah Collier led the way with 22 points on 9-for-11 shooting.
For their part, the Aggies were competitive in all five conference games well into the second half, but in each of those games, things like injuries, missed free throws or the wrong decision made at a crucial time slipped the game from A&T's grip. What made Saturday different was the Aggies avoided the opponent's late run, staying within striking distance of the Tribe.
A Glasper three at the 6:18 mark gave the Aggies a 69-68 lead. William & Mary scored the next five points before two Shell free throws brought the Aggies to within three at 73-70 with 5 ½ minutes remaining. Aggies freshman center Efstratios Kalliontzis got the Aggies to within two, 75-73, by making one of two free throws before Shell made one of two to cut the Tribe's lead to one.
Tribe's guard Gabe Dorsey, who scored 18 points on 5-for-10 shooting from 3-point range, kept the Aggies at a distance by making a 3-pointer to give William & Mary a 78-74 lead with 3:42 to play. The Aggies had another 1 of 2 event at the free throw line with Forrest at the foul line as his one free throw pulled the Aggies to within three, 78-75, with 2:55 to play.
Neither team scored another point until Lamothe's 3-point shot in front of the Aggies bench with 3.1 seconds to play. Lamothe, who came into the game ranked ninth in the nation in minutes played per game, would have been the unlikely hero. He only played 14 minutes on Saturday, committing his fourth foul 10 seconds into the second half, and had to go to the bench.
He did not return to the court until there was 8:10 remaining in the game. Yet, he tied the game at 81, leading to a timeout by the Tribe.
"I'm happy he was able to get back in the game and hit a big shot to tie up the game," said Ross.
After the Tribe's timeout, the inbound pass went to Chase Lowe near mid-court. He threw a pass to Boothby, who stood at the top of the key, 40 feet away from the basket. Forrest ran at Boothby to alter the shot, but by the time Boothby was already in shooting rhythm and launched the buzzer beater that looked like it had every chance to go in once it left his hands.
"One of the things I told them is that we have to channel this feeling that we have right now into getting better at practice on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and then make sure we have that carry-over for the game on Thursday," said Ross.
A&T does return home to face Monmouth on Thursday, January 16 from Corbett Sports Center at 7 p.m.
