GREENSBORO – North Carolina A&T could not get enough stops Wednesday afternoon, especially down the stretch, against the Northeastern Huskies in an 85-74 loss at Corbett Sports Center.
The Aggies played solid basketball on the offensive end, shooting 46 percent for the game, but still dropped to 7-6 overall and 0-2 in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA). Both CAA losses have come at home. On the flipside, however, the Huskies shot 53.6 percent from the field, including 8-for-17 (.471) from 3-point range.
"We didn't do a great job defensively, and that's on me," said A&T head coach Monté Ross. "I must put them in better positions to be successful on the defensive end. Offensively, we're fine, but giving up 85 points and giving up threes to 3-point shooters, and giving up drives to drivers, that's on me."
Northeastern had it going in the first half, shooting 56.7 percent. The Huskies ended the first half by connecting on 5 of 7 shots over the final five minutes and outscoring A&T 13-5 to take a 44-36 lead into halftime. But the Aggies fought back quickly to open the second half, tying the game at 46-46 over the first three minutes. The Huskies methodically rebuilt their lead to five, 55-50, over the next five minutes before the Aggies made another offensive surge, starting in the paint.
Redshirt sophomore forward Zamoku Weluche-Ume had his dunk followed by a power move in the paint from redshirt sophomore Will Felton before sophomore Dwayne Pierce took a pass from redshirt freshman Lewis Walker and splashed a three to give the Aggies a 57-55 lead with 11 minutes to play in the game.
It marked the Aggies' first lead since it was 10-9 four minutes into the game. It would also mark their final lead of the game. Unfortunately, Northeastern got its offense cranking again, going on a 10-2 run over the next three minutes to take the lead for good. Northeastern's lead eventually grew to 73-65 with 4:20 remaining in the game.
A&T scored the next three points to cut it to five, and it appeared the Aggies could get another possession with the shot clock under four seconds as the Huskies tried to inbound the basketball. But Northeastern guard William Kermoury got free, taking a pass from Mike Loughane and knocking down a three to push the Huskies' lead to eight with 3 ½ minutes to play. Kermoury finished the game with 22 points on 6-for-8 shooting from 3-point range.
"We had two guys that ran away from him, and he ran to the corner, which, I mean, he's the hot-button guy, so we can't allow him to get that look," said Ross. "We would rather, if anything, two guys run to him."
The Aggies did cut the lead to five with 2:22 remaining, but a 3-point play by Xavier Abreu gave the Huskies an 80-72 lead. Abreu also had 22 points for Northeastern.
"Our rebounding is fine. We shot 46 percent, which is normally what we shoot," said Ross. "We're still not a good 3-point shooting team yet. I believe we'll shoot better. But, to me, it just boils down to being able to get stops and stopping people from doing what they're comfortable doing, making them play to their weaknesses, not allowing them to play to their strengths."
Weluche-Ume recorded his first career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Felton came off the bench to score a season-high 16 points to go along with six rebounds on 5-for-6 shooting. Junior Trent Middleton, Jr., posted 16 points and four assists on 6-for-8 shooting. Walker added 14 points.
A&T will head to the Long Island, New York area to face the Stony Brook Seawolves on Saturday, January 3 at 4 p.m. from Stony Brook Arena.
