GREENSBORO – North Carolina A&T's 2025-26 home opener went about as well as anyone could imagine on Monday night.
A great crowd assembled at Corbett Sports Center. A saxophonist did an excellent rendition of Lift Every Voice and the National Anthem, and more importantly, the Aggies blew out a familiar foe in the South Carolina State Bulldogs, 85-62. Monday marked the first meeting between the two old Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) rivals since January 3, 2021. It is A&T's largest margin of victory over the Bulldogs since winning 85-55 on February 11, 2012.
Junior Lureon Walker, a transfer from Mount Olive University, has been a menace to universities located in South Carolina over his first two games as an Aggie.
After scoring 22 points against the University of South Carolina last Tuesday, Walker had 22 points on 7-for-13 shooting from the floor and 4-for-5 shooting from 3-point range. Walker's night included hitting a 3-pointer at the buzzer to end the first half to give A&T a 36-26 lead.
"It wasn't a play that we've worked on, but they executed from the board to the court, which is always good to see," said third-year head coach Monté Ross. "Anytime you can get it into Lo's hands, I trust him to make a good decision."
Walker's buzzer-beating three to end the first half gave the Aggies the boost they needed. Over the first 2 ½ minutes of the second half, the Aggies went on a 9-1 run, culminating in a 3-point play from Cleveland State transfer KJ Debrick to give A&T a 45-27 lead. Debrick posted his second career double-double and his first as an Aggie with 14 points and 12 rebounds. He also had two blocks, two assists, two steals, and shot 5-for-9 from the floor.
The Aggies built their lead to as many as 29 in the second half as junior Mujahiid Burton scored on a pull-up jumper to give the Aggies a 67-38 lead with 10 minutes to play. Ross described what he likes about this team and this win.
"We had 15 assists on 28 field goals tonight," said third-year head coach Monté Ross. "That means they're sharing the basketball. That means we have great chemistry. That means they're making the extra pass, and that's a really fun way to play basketball because you expect when you're open that you're going to get the ball, and it's not a thing you have to force.
You could be open for a good shot. But if your teammate has a great shot, these guys will gladly give it up for their teammates to take a great shot. That's the first thing I like. The second thing is that they fly around on defense. I think you could see tonight with the blocking shots. Sometimes we were called for goaltending, but I'll take that effort."
The Aggies needed that effort early against SCSU's press. A&T turned the ball over six times within the first nine minutes of the game and led 13-12. But a 14-2 A&T was capped off by Zamoku Weluche-Ume finding an open Walker for a 3-pointer to put A&T ahead 27-14 with five minutes to play in the first half.
But SCSU continued to use its pressure to get A&T's lead down to seven, 33-26, on a Jayden Johnson layup with 3.3 seconds remaining in the first half. That's when the Aggies called a timeout to set up the play to Walker.
The inbounds pass went to freshman Brooklyn Vick near midcourt. Vick whipped the pass ahead to Walker, who caught it, turned, and netted the three.
His reaction to the momentum-changing shot was a little on the humble side.
"I make that shot all the time in practice, so it was kind of like, yeah, it was a good shot, but I knew the game wasn't finished. I knew it wouldn't win the game. We had another half to play," said Walker.
Lewis Walker came off the bench to score 16 points on 10-for-10 shooting from the free throw line. Weluche-Ume added 10 points, six rebounds, four assists, two steals, and a blocked shot. Owen Bronston, Jr. led the Bulldogs with 18 points and seven rebounds.
The Aggies will look to continue to hit big shots when they return to action on Thursday, November 14, to face Washington Adventist University at 7 p.m. from Corbett Sports Center.
