Aggies hit eight out of nine free throws down the stretch

Box Score
DALLAS, Texas, December 30, 2006 – The slogan on the back of the T-shirt says “AGGIE PRIDE WORLDWIDE.” If Dallas is any indication, that slogan rings true.

With a strong contingent of approximately 100 screaming Aggie fans draped with Blue and Gold behind the North Carolina A&T men’s basketball team’s bench at Moody Coliseum on Saturday night, the Aggies earned their biggest regular-season win since 1999 with an 80-76 win over Southern Methodist of Conference USA.

Steven Rush led the Aggies with 22 points on 6-for-9 shooting from 3-point range. Nick Wilson added 16 points on 6-for-7 shooting. Jason Wills and Austin Ewing also scored in double figures with 11 and 10 respectively.

The win had to be a reward for the Aggies, who have been so close to upsetting some of the larger schools in the country from major conferences. They led New Mexico, Dayton and Arizona State at the half before losing. They were tied with New Mexico and Arizona State with less two minutes remaining in those respective games.

“I’m not sure what our record would be against some of the teams North Carolina A&T has played,’’ said SMU coach Matt Doherty. “(Aggies coach Jerry Eaves) has coached in the NBA, at Louisville and he won a national championship, so he’s been around the block a few times and knows this game.”

“Don’t let their record fool you, those kids can play and Jerry has coached the heck out of those kids. “They were due for a win; I was just hoping it wasn’t going to be us. They’re going to beat a lot of people.”

The last time the Aggies beat a school from a major conference was a 1999 win over Texas A&M of the Big 12. On Saturday, the Aggies ended the first half on an 8-2 run capped by a Wilson jumper to give the Aggies a 36-28 halftime advantage. But the Aggies had seen this scenario before on the road against a team favored to beat them.

“All those close games led to this moment,’’ said Rush, who is fifth in the nation in 3-pointers made per game. “We believed those close losses were about a learning process. We had to learn how to get to this point and win games, not just be happy to play in close games.”

The Mustangs made sure the Aggies didn’t get away. Aggies forward Trahern Chaplin gave the Aggies their biggest lead of the game at 39-30 on a 3-pointer 53 seconds into the second half. Things would get tight from there. Despite having an upset win on the line the Aggies fought off the Mustang challenges, and surrendered the lead just twice in the second half. A Brian Epps three gave the Mustangs a 65-63 lead with 5:44 remaining.

 But Austin Ewing answered quickly with a three from the corner to put the Aggies up one, 66-65. N.C. A&T never trailed again.

Mustangs forward Ike Ofoegbu tied the game at 66 on a free throw with 4:46 remaining. The Aggies hit three out of four free throws within a 1 ½ minute span to take a three-point lead. After the teams traded free throws, the Aggies led 70-67 with 2:30 to play. Thirty-five seconds later, the play Eaves called summarized the game.

Standing at the top of the key, Jason Wills found a cutting Walter Booth for a wide open layup and five-point Aggies lead, 72-67, with 1:55 to play.

“I thought we executed the back door – our entire offense for that matter – well tonight,’’ said Eaves, who played for former Louisville coach Denny Crum. “Coach Crum told me a long time field goal percentage; 3-point percentage and free throw percentage win ball games. I thought we did all three well tonight. We executed our offense and it gave us an opportunity to shoot a lot of layups. That’s what we want.”

The Mustangs never recovered from Booth’s big layup as the Aggies went 8-for-9 from the free throw line in the final two minutes of the game to seal the win.

“We got up and down the floor tonight, which makes us hard to guard,’’ said Eaves. “We’re learning how to win, and that’s big for my program. I mean to see our Aggie fans show up here tonight shows how much our program is growing and it was a big boost for our young men.”

The Aggies improved to 4-9 on the season and begin conference play this Saturday at home against Maryland-Eastern Shore at 4 p.m. Two nights later (Monday) they play Howard on ESPNU at 9 p.m., from Corbett Sports Center.