BOSTON – The North Carolina A&T men's basketball team looked like it would keep its recent trend going. Keep the game close throughout before pulling out a win in dramatic fashion in the end.
However, the Northeastern Huskies had different plans over the final 14 ½ minutes of Thursday's Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) contest at Matthews Arena. The Huskies started knocking down perimeter shots on their way to a 69-55 win over the Aggies.
A&T was trying to put together its first three-game winning streak since the middle of January last season. Instead, the Aggies dropped to 7-23 overall and 3-14 in CAA play. Their final regular-season game is Saturday at Hofstra (4 p.m.) before they begin play in the 2025 CAA Men's Basketball Championship Tournament on Friday, March 7, from Washington, D.C.'s CareFirst Arena.
Sophomore Nikolaos Chitikoudis led the Aggies with 19 points, 15 rebounds, and three steals on 9-for-17 shooting. It marked his eighth double-double of the season and the 10th of his career.
The Aggies trailed by seven early in the game, but with five minutes to play in the first half, Chitikoudis found a cutting Bryson Ogletree going to the basket for an easy layup a 24-23 A&T lead. The Huskies outscored A&T 9-2 over the next three minutes. The scoring spurt included a 4-point play from Rashad King as Northeastern took a 32-26 advantage.
A&T got to within two on a Chitikoudis drive to the basket and a putback from sophomore Jalal McKie. A La Pratt layup, however, gave the Huskies a 34-30 halftime lead.
Thursday's contest remained close over the first 5 ½ minutes of the second half. A&T got to within two, 39-37 when Ogletree took advantage of an Efstratios Kalliontzis offensive rebound and scored with 14:51 to play.
Unfortunately, the Huskies connected on three 3-pointers over the next five minutes, which was capped off by a three from JB Frankel to give Northeastern a 50-39 lead. The closest the Aggies got the rest of the way was eight points with 6 ½ minutes remaining. But Northeastern's lead would grow to as many as 16 in the second half.
King connected on five 3-pointers on his way to a game-high 25 points as the Huskies improved to 16-14 overall and 8-9 in league play. Reigning national and co-CAA player of the week Jahnathan Lamothe had an off night for the Aggies, going 2-for-14 from the floor for six points.
Ogletree followed up his career-high 19-point performance last Saturday against Stony Brook with a 13-point outing on 5-for-7 shooting from the floor and 3-for-5 shooting from 3-point range.
