HEMPSTEAD, NY – The North Carolina A&T Aggies men's basketball team lost to Hofstra 70-49 Saturday afternoon in Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) action at Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex but will get a rematch on Friday.
The Aggies will enter the 2025 CAA Men's Basketball Championship Tournament as the No. 14 seed. They will open the tournament on Friday, March 7, at 4:30 p.m. from CareFirst Arena against the Hofstra Pride in Washington, DC. Friday's winner will face No. 6 seed Monmouth on Saturday at 8:30 p.m.
The Aggies will enter the tournament at 7-24 overall and 3-15 in CAA play. Jean Aranguren led the Pride with 20 points, nine rebounds, and four assists on 8-for-15 shooting to help Hofstra improve to 14-17 overall and 6-12 in league play.
A&T will get some much-needed time off from competition after going through February, playing only six players. It seemed to be taking its toll on Saturday against the Pride. Junior point guard Camian Shell and sophomore wing Jahnathan Lamothe played 40 minutes again. The Aggies struggled from the floor, shooting 15-for-53 (.283).
Lamothe led the Aggies with 25 points, six rebounds and two steals. He was the only Aggie to score in double figures even though Efstratios Kalliontzis had nine points and a career-high nine rebounds.
"Toward the end of the game, I looked at the coaches and said, 'It looks like we've run out of gas,'" said A&T head coach Monté Ross. "But we just battled or at least tried to battle. We have to find a way. But I'm just proud of the way the guys were fighting and have fought for so long."
Both teams struggled to score early. They combined for 16 points over the first nine minutes of the game. Lamothe's jumper gave the Aggies a 12-6 lead at the 10:19 mark of the first half. Hofstra picked up the scoring pace from there.
Hofstra outscored A&T 19-4 over the next 8 ½ minutes, capped off by a layup from German Plotnikov to give the Pride a 25-16 lead. Lamothe went on a personal 6-0 run behind two free throws, a pullup jump shot, and a tip-in to bring the Aggies to within three at halftime, 25-22. Like their game at Northeastern on Thursday night, the Aggies remained competitive throughout the first portion of the second half.
Shell splashed a three to keep the Aggies to within three at 28-25 over the first 2 ½ minutes of the second half. Hofstra put together a 6-0 spurt to go up by nine, but with 13 ½ minutes to play freshman center Efstratios Kalliontzis completed an and-1 to bring the Aggies to within five at 37-32.
A Plotnikov 3-pointer and a 3-point play from Davis Cruz gave the Pride a 43-32 lead with 10 ½ minutes to play. A&T crept to within eight twice over the next minute on two Lamothe 3-pointers. But Hofstra's next run would be the decisive blow.
It started with an Eric Parnell 3-pointer and ended with an Aranguren three that handed Hofstra a 56-38 lead with 6 ½ minutes remaining.
Whoever we play, it's going to be a battle; it's going to be a test for us," said Ross about the upcoming conference tournament. "We're going to prepare, and we'll rumble, we'll fight for 40 minutes."
