WILMINGTON, NC – The North Carolina A&T men's basketball team faced the No. 1 team in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) on the road on Thursday, falling 88-65 to the UNC Wilmington Seahawks at Trask Coliseum.
The Aggies, who were coming off one of their best outings of the 2025-26 season, where they went over the century mark in a 102-82 win over Elon on the road, were uncharacteristically out-rebounded Thursday night. The Seahawks ended the game with a 42-29 rebounding advantage and a 22-6 edge in second-chance points.
While the Aggies, who dropped to 11-16 overall and 4-12 in CAA play, looked good from inside the 3-point arc, making 18 of 30 shots (.600). However, the Aggies shot 6-for-24 (.250) from 3-point range as compared to the Seahawks, who went 12-for-27 (.444) from beyond the 3-point arc.
"We didn't play well across the board," said A&T head coach Monté Ross. "You have nights like that on the road, especially against a good team. We have to fight back, and we'll do that."
An and-1 from redshirt freshman Lewis Walker, 11 minutes into the game, got the Aggies to within three at 21-18. UNCW created separation from there. The Seahawks scored the next seven points to take a 10-point lead. After Walker connected on a jump shot, the Seahawks scored eight consecutive points and went into the under-four-minute timeout leading 36-20. The Seahawks' lead grew to as many as 20 in the first half, and they led 44-26 at halftime.
A&T got to within 15 twice in the second half, once on a Trent Middleton, Jr., 3-pointer 80 seconds into the second half to cut UNCW's advantage to 46-31. Walker got the Aggies to within 15 again, this time at 63-48 with 8:46 to play. But UNCW never relented in the second half and led by 25 with 2 ½ minutes remaining in the game. The Aggies scored the ball better in the second half, making 14 of 30 shots (.467).
"When you're playing behind like that, you're playing fast, and you're playing free, so those shots are a little easier," said Ross. "We still get stops the way we needed to get stops. They still scored 44 points in the second half. We didn't play well enough to win against the first-place team."
Sophomore Zamoku Weluche-Ume led the Aggies with 15 points and six rebounds on 6-for-10 shooting. He made both of his 3-point attempts. Sophomore guard Dwayne Pierce and Middleton had 10 points apiece.
Walker added 14 points to bring him to 493 this season. Once he scores seven points, it will mark the 24th time in program history a player has scored 500 or more points in a season. Patrick Wessler led UNCW with 19 points as the Seahawks improved to 25-4 overall and 14-2 in league play.
The Aggies will play inside Corbett Sports Center for the final time of the 2025-26 season when they welcome William & Mary to Greensboro on Saturday for a 2 p.m. tip. The Aggies will honor guard Bryson Ogletree and student manager Will Turner before the game as a part of Senior Day presented by AT&T. The cheerleading team will honor Santana Baker and Carter Powell at halftime.
