Chaplin leads Aggies with 14 points

Box Score
ORANGEBURG, S.C., December 2, 2006 – S.C. State shot 70 percent from the floor in the first half and 61 percent from the floor for the game to earn a 77-67 win over the North Carolina A&T men’s basketball team Saturday night at Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center.

The Aggies weren’t terrible from the field at 46.2 percent, but the Bulldogs took the lead early and stayed in front because they never cooled off from the field. Trahern Chaplin led the Aggies with 14 points and five rebounds. Glenn Nelson added 12 points, while Jason Willis chipped in with 11 points and five assists.

Travis Jones led the Bulldogs with 19 points on 7-for-12 shooting, and Brian Mason added 13 points and 11 rebounds.

“They took advantage of our miscues early and had us playing catch up the rest of the night,’’ said Eaves. “It’ would have been nice to get a conference win on the road, but it’s early and we have time to bounce back from this, and I think we will.”

The Aggies (2-5, 0-1) turned the ball over six times within the 4:20 of the game, allowing the Bulldogs to take a 19-3 lead. Nelson, whose 4-for-8 night makes 18-for-25 from the floor in last three games, hit a short jumper in the lane to the get the Aggies going. His shot led to a 16-6 Aggies run that put them down just six at 25-19 after Angelo Hernandez found Greg Roberts cutting to the basket for a layup with 8:18 remaining in the first half.

But the Bulldogs (1-5, 1-0)  scored five points over the next minute to put their lead back at double figures. It would be a prelude to what haunted the Aggies every time they made a move toward making the game tighter.

After a Nelson layup put the Bulldogs lead back under double-figures at 34-26 with 4:45 remaining in the half, the Bulldogs ended the first half on a 9-1 run to take a 43-27 halftime lead.

S.C. State led by as many as 21 in the second half as Julius Carter followed a Mason miss to give the Bulldogs a 52-31 advantage with 15:22 remaining. The Aggies responded as Wills found Nelson spotted up in the corner for a three. Nelson followed that with a 3-point play that put the Aggies to within 15. Nelson’s scoring was a part of a 15-2 run that closed the gap to 54-46 with 11:26 to play.

Unfortunately, the Bulldogs caught fire again, outscoring the Aggies 11-2 over the four minutes to take a 67-48 lead with 7 ½ minutes remaining in the game.

The Aggies will try to get back to their winning ways on Tuesday night when they face St. Andrews at 7:30 p.m., at Corbett Sports Center. After playing the Knights, the Aggies will have 10 days off before facing New Mexico on Dec. 15 at the Pitt.