Box Score
GREENSBORO, N.C.,  November 11, 2006 – Down by 10 points with 3:16 remaining, N.C. A&T felt it still had a shot to win against Stetson in its second game of the John Thompson Foundation Classic. Unfortunately, the Hatters made free throws at the end to hold off the Aggie rally and escape with a 72-69 victory at Mizzou Arena.

Gabe McMillen capped a Hatter 7-0 run with a 3-pointer and two free throws to put Stetson up 68-58 with 3:16 to play. But a Steven Rush 3-pointer and two free throws by Austin Ewing cut the deficit to 69-64 with 1:29 remaining. Collins Okafor hit a pair of free throws to push the lead to seven, but Greg Roberts answered with a layup. The Aggies then forced a five-second violation on the ensuing inbounds play to regain possession.

Jason Wills grabbed an offensive rebound and was fouled. He hit one of two free throws to cut the lead to four, 71-67 with 28 seconds remaining. After a Stetson free throw, Wills countered with a layup to make it a one possession game.

Kris Thomas missed two free throws on the ensuing Hatter possession, giving the Aggies a chance to send the game into overtime, but Ewing’s 3-point attempt was short as time expired, sending the Aggies to 0-2 on the young season. N.C. A&T will play against Army in their final game of the Classic tomorrow at 2 p.m. 

Rush led all scorers with 21 points, as he connected on six 3-pointers. Wills added 13 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Eric Diaz led Stetson with 19 points, while Thomas added 17 and McMillen 15.

The Aggies won the battle on the boards, 35-31, and scored 13 points off of 24 Hatter miscues. N.C. A&T also out-shot Stetson from the foul line and committed just 15 turnovers. The Hatters made 23 field goals, but 12 came from beyond the 3-point line, with four each from Diaz and Thomas.

 “It was what we expected, a close wire-to-wire ball game,” said coach Jerry Eaves. “We had so many opportunities to win this game, but the ball didn’t bounce our way a few times. I have to give credit to [Stetson], because those guys hit clutch shots when it counted. The 3-pointer [McMillen] hit was with one second left on the shot clock. [Okafor] hits two big free throws in the last minute, and that was big for them.”