CHARLOTTE – Turnovers, followed by foul trouble, proved costly for North Carolina A&T Tuesday night as the Aggies lost in the 704-area code for the second straight game with a 74-57 setback against the Charlotte 49ers at Halton Arena. A&T lost to Davidson at Davidson last Friday.
The Aggies dropped to 3-3 as they played without leading scorer Lureon Walker for the third straight game due to an illness. Not having Lureon Walker got more complicated when officials called second-leading scorer Lewis Walker for his third foul with nine minutes remaining in the first half. A&T lost another scorer when Dwayne Pierce picked up his third foul with five minutes remaining in the first half.
Before Lewis Walker and Pierce went to the bench, the Aggies were struggling offensively. They made 7 of 19 shots from the field (.368) in the first half and turned the ball over nine times. That allowed the 49ers to score 18 points off those turnovers.
"We started the game with too many turnovers," said A&T head coach Monté Ross. "That allowed them to get out in transition in the first half. When you're playing against a higher-level team, there are certain things you can't do, and turning the ball over is one of them. You've got to get a shot off on every opportunity. I thought when we got shots, we were doing a decent job. We just didn't get a lot of shots up."
After an A&T turnover, 49ers Raúl Villar turned that into a made 3-pointer to give Charlotte a 10-0 lead over the game's first three minutes. Over the next two minutes, the Aggies fought back over the next two minutes, cutting Charlotte's lead to 11-6 on a 3-point play from Lewis Walker. However, another Charlotte spurt followed. The 49ers scored nine straight points after Lewis Walker's and-1, ending with a Kylan Blackmon 3-pointer to give the 49ers a 20-6 lead.
When Lewis Walker committed his third foul, the Aggies trailed 23-10. Despite his absence, the Aggies got the lead under double-figures again. After two Arden Conyers free throws, the Aggies scored six consecutive points thanks to a runner from junior Trent Middleton, Jr., and two buckets from Pierce, cutting the 49ers' lead to 25-16 with seven minutes remaining in the first half. But two minutes later, Pierce had to leave the game with his third foul.
Charlotte used his absence and hot shooting to pull away from the Aggies for good. The 49ers outscored the Aggies 19-6 over the final seven minutes of the first half, including going 7-for-10 from the floor. A&T's turnover issues in the first half were highlighted by a steal from Charlotte's Dezayne Mingo with seconds remaining in the first half. Mingo turned that steal into a half-court 3-pointer that he netted at the buzzer to send the 49ers into the locker room with a 44-22 halftime lead.
"We're a team that scores the ball pretty easily, no matter who we play, so for us only to have 22 points at the half says a lot about those guys we had on the sideline," said Ross. "We need those guys in there. It was a good learning lesson for both of those guys. When you have two fouls, and we put you out there like that, sometimes you have to let two points happen because we can get those two points back, we can't get that foul back that they called on you."
Middleton, Jr. and Lewis Walker led the Aggies with 14 points apiece. Middleton Jr. shot 5-for-7 from the floor. Charlotte improved to 4-5 overall thanks to shooting 52 percent from the floor. Kuluel Mading came off the bench to score 14 points for the 49ers. Charlotte outscored the Aggies 37-13 in bench points. The Aggies shot 12-for-16 from the foul line in the second half after shooting 7-for-13 from the free throw line in the first half.
"I thought we responded in the second half, but we dug ourselves too deep a hole in the first half," said Ross.
The Aggies will now travel to Durham, NC, to face chief rival North Carolina Central University (NCCU) Saturday evening at 4:30 from McDougald-McLendon Arena.
