GREENSBORO – The North Carolina A&T men's basketball team showed a tremendous ability to overcome adversity Tuesday night, which is a good sign as the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) portion of the schedule approaches.
The Aggies withstood a remarkable second-half comeback effort from fellow Division I crosstown rival UNC Greensboro, holding off the Spartans without the services of their leading scorer Lewis Walker in the second half to win 71-65 at First Horizon Coliseum.
Other Aggies stepped up in Walker's absence, including junior Trent Middleton, Jr. The Division I transfer played 38 minutes and scored a career-high 21 points to go along with four rebounds and three assists. Sophomore guard Dwayne Pierce added 13 points, including two gigantic jump shots down the stretch. Walker had 12 points and five rebounds before leaving the game late in the first half, with an apparent leg injury.
"It's one thing not to have your leading scorer to start the game because you can adjust to it and practice for it," said A&T head coach Monté Ross, who saw his team improve to 6-4 after going 7-25 last season. "But to lose him at halftime throws you off balance. I was really happy to see that we had guys willing to step up."
Before Walker departed, the Aggies built a massive lead using solid defense and rebounding to stifle the Spartans. UNCG struggled to make shots in the first half, shooting 7-for-32 (.219) from the floor and 0-for-12 from 3-point range. A&T took advantage of UNCG's inability to make shots, outrebounding the Spartans 31-18, limiting them to one shot with 21 defensive rebounds. With 8 ½ minutes remaining in the first half, A&T's offensive efficiency started to catch up with its defensive efforts.
Redshirt sophomore center Will Felton scored inside, followed by a Middleton 3-pointer to give the Aggies a 26-15 lead. Four minutes later, Middleton found a wide-open Bryson Ogletree spotting up for a three. Ogletree made the three to give the Aggies a 32-18 lead. Before the final media timeout of the first half, Walker drove to the basket and got fouled. He came away from the ordeal limping but still managed to make two free throws with 3:52 remaining in the first half to give the Aggies a 34-18 lead. But that would be the last time the 1,237 assembled at First Horizon would see Walker on the court as he hobbled to the bench during the timeout.
Despite not having Walker, the Aggies still carried a 38-20 lead into the locker room at halftime. However, within the first five minutes of the second half, that lead had dissipated. UNCG connected on its first eight shots of the second half, including a 3-pointer from Donald Whitehead Jr. to cut A&T's lead to 43-41 at the 15-minute mark.
"We knew they were going to make a run," said Ross. (UNCG head coach Mike Jones) is too good a coach and they're too talented a team. I didn't know they were going to make every 3-pointer they shot after missing every 3-pointer they shot in the first half. That was quite the dichotomy."
Even with a resurgent UNCG team relentlessly coming after them, the Aggies were able to keep the Spartans away from the lead. The Spartans did tie the game at 49-49 on a Valentino Pinedo free throw with 11 minutes to play. The Aggies used an 8-2 run that included a 3-pointer from Pierce and an assist from Pierce to graduate center KJ Debrick to give the Aggies a 57-51 lead. But UNCG scored the next seven points to take its first lead of the game at 58-57 with 6:16 remaining on the clock.
The Aggies went inside to Debrick to regain the lead, and it worked. Debrick scored on a turnaround jumper deep in the paint and was fouled. He completed the 3-point play to give the Aggies a two-point advantage. KJ Younger tied the game at 60 before two Pierce free throws gave the Aggies the lead. Pierce would come through for the Aggies again in crunch time. After a free throw from UNCG's Justin Neely, the Aggies went inside again to Debrick to score a bucket. After a defensive stop, Pierce hit a timely 15-footer from the elbow with the shot clock winding down to give the Aggies a 66-61 lead with 1:56 remaining in the game.
With 17 seconds remaining, Pierce made one of two free throws to keep the Aggies ahead by five, 67-62. However, the Spartans kept their comeback efforts intact as Whitehead raced down the court and netted a 3-pointer to cut A&T's lead to two with 11 seconds to play. But Middleton hit a pair of free throws, followed by two free throws from Zamoku Weluche-Ume to seal the win.
Saturday marked Ross's first win over the Spartans in three tries and A&T's second win over its Gate City rivals in nine attempts. The Aggies will close out the non-conference portion of their schedule Saturday evening when they host Mid-Atlantic Christian University at Corbett Sports Center at 4:30. The Aggies will then start CAA play against UNC Wilmington on Monday, December 29, at 7 p.m. in a nationally televised game on CBS Sports Network.
"It's a curveball," Ross said about Walker's injury. When coupled with second-leading scorer Lureon Walker still out, it puts the Aggies in a position where they may have to overcome even more adversity.
"I'm learning you just can't hit fastballs. You've got to be able to hit some curveballs, too," Ross continued. "We've been getting some off-speed pitches thrown to us, but we'll adjust. These kids are a lot more resilient than we as adults give them credit for."
