Four Aggies recorded more than seven rebounds

Box Score
GREENSBORO, January 6, 2007 – Chalk it up to jetlag, but head N.C. A&T men’s basketball coach Jerry Eaves doesn’t believe his team came out with same intensity it had on the road against the likes of Arizona State, New Mexico and Southern Methodist.  

Despite that, the Aggies led from the starting tip on Saturday, earning an 80-66 win over Maryland-Eastern Shore at Corbett Sports Center. It was the Aggies first home game since a December 5 win over St. Andrews. The Aggies are 4-0 at home and are shooting 50.6 percent in Corbett , while averaging 85.2 points.

“Getting the ‘W’ is what matters most,’’ said reigning MEAC Player of the Week Steven Rush. “We love being back at home. “We had a bit of a let down tonight, but we know when we play the way we are capable of playing, we can beat anyone in the conference.”

Rush scored 16 points on 6-for-12 shooting. Austin Ewing also had 16 and added seven boards, while Greg Roberts had his best game of the season with 15 points and nine rebounds.

N.C. A&T led by as many as 20 in the second half, but the Hawks slowly chipped away at the lead. Ed Tyson’s 3-pointer from the top of the key moved the lead to single digits at 61-53 with 8:26 to play. It was the first time the Hawks dwindled the lead under 10 since the 7:26 mark of the first half.

But Nick Wilson didn’t let the Hawks momentum last long. Nine seconds after Tyson’s bucket, Wilson hit a 3-pointer from the corner to push lead to 11. A Ewing steal and layup gave the Aggies a 66-53 advantage with 7:17 remaining. Tyson turned a missed Jason Wills free throw into two quick points for the Hawks, and Corey Brown followed that with a fastbreak layup to get the lead under 10 again.

“Yes, we won, but I don’t think we played Aggies basketball,’’ said Eaves. “We have to give the same effort we gave on the road over the Holidays. It’s the conference and we can’t afford to come out and not give our best effort.”

After Ewing’s layup, the Aggies went on a 10-3 run, going 5-for-5 during the run to get the lead back to 20 at 80-60 with 1:26 to play.

Wills, the second-leading rebounder in the conference, had 12 points and eight boards for the Aggies. The Hawks, playing without their starting point guard, were led Tyson’s 22 points on 8-for-16 shooting. Brown added 21 for the Hawks (2-12, 0-3).

The Aggies improved to 5-9 overall and 1-1 in the conference. They play host to Howard Monday night at 9 p.m. The game will be televised live by ESPNU.