GREENSBORO – Thursday night's men's basketball Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) contest was a matchup between a team that is perhaps the most experienced in the conference versus a team with the least depth.
Experience won out. The UNC Wilmington Seahawks handed North Carolina A&T its ninth straight loss with an 83-59 win at Corbett Sports Center.
The Aggies dropped to 4-19 overall and 0-10 in conference play despite 20 points, five rebounds and four assists on 5-for-12 shooting from 3-point range. The Aggies played only seven players after announcing the suspension of three players, including their top two leading scorers.
UNCW started three graduate students in guards Bo Montgomery and Donovan Newby and forward Sean Moore. Montgomery and Moore scored 15 apiece, and Newby had 11 points, six assists, and five rebounds to improve the Seahawks to 17-5 overall and 7-2 in CAA play.
"That's an older and experienced team," said A&T head men's basketball coach Monté Ross. "I thought we did some good things. I thought there were some good things that I saw out there. I saw some things we will have to improve upon."
Conversely, the Aggies started three sophomores and one freshman on Thursday. Even though the Seahawks had an experience and depth advantage, the Aggies kept pace with UNCW over the first 12 minutes. Junior guard Jalal McKie came off the bench to tie the game at 18-18 on a turnaround jump shot in the paint with 9 ½ minutes remaining.
Ninety seconds later, Lamothe found McKie cutting toward the basket and found him for an easy layup to bring the Aggies to within one at 22-21. The Aggies struggled from the floor from there. A&T scored only four points over the final eight minutes of the first half, going 1-for-9 from the floor as UNCW carried a 42-25 lead into the locker at the half.
"The class of shots we got in the first half I was pleased with. We missed them," said Ross. "I told the guys you'll make them in the second half. And they did."
Ross was right. The Aggies went 12-for-24 (.500) in the second half, including shooting 5-for-12 (.417) from 3-point range and 5-for-7 (.714) from the line.
"What it is going to require is us living in the gym by ourselves," said Ross. "I told the guys you're not fourth, fifth or sixth on the scouting report now. Now you're going to be one, two and three. That's something that may be unfamiliar to you, but you've got to get familiar. The way you get familiar with that is getting into the gym and being able to make teams pay for leaving you open."
The Aggies were never able to slow down the Seahawks offensively. The Seahawks made all eight free throw attempts, shot 52.4 percent from the field, and were 9-for-20 (.450) from 3-point range. Khamari McGriff came off the bench to lead UNCW with 16 points on 8-for-11 shooting. UNCW had a 38-22 advantage in paint points and a 17-6 edge in second-chance points.
A&T did get some good news on Thursday with the return of the CAA's leading rebounder, Nikolaos Chitikoudis. After missing A&T's previous four games because of an injury, Chitikoudis returned to finish with 16 points, six rebounds and four assists on 4-for-7 shooting. The other upside for the Aggies is that they will get a week off from competition as they adjust to their new reality.
"We'll have to revamp," Ross said. "Our bye comes at a good time. We get a week to be able to put some things in and to tweak some things. That will be good for us."
A&T will face three straight road games when they return to action, starting with a February 6 game at the College of Charleston. The tip is at 6 p.m. A road game at Campbell on Monday, February 10, which will air live on CBS Sports Network at 8 p.m., will follow before the Aggies visit Triad Piedmont rival Elon on Thursday, February 13 at 7 p.m.
