Aggies hit just two 3-pointers

Box Score
WASHINGTON, D.C., MARCH 1, 2008 – The North Carolina A&T men’s basketball team made Howard do exactly what it wanted Howard to do. The problem was the Aggies didn’t do what they wanted to do in a 66-58 loss to the Bison at Burr Gymnasium Saturday afternoon.

“It was just a very tough shooting night for us,’’ said head coach Jerry Eaves. “We didn’t shoot the ball well from the line or from 3-point. You just can’t control a possession game when you shoot that poorly. We had a lot of opportunities at the basket, but we just didn’t convert our layups. We’re one of the best shooting teams in the league, but tonight we just couldn’t get them to go in.”

The loss keeps the Aggies where they were to start the day – fifth place. The Aggies are 14-14 overall and 8-6 in the conference. They control their own destiny for one of the coveted top five spots in the conference, which will allow them to only have to win three games and not four to win the MEAC Tournament in Raleigh, N.C., March 10-15.

The Aggies own the tiebreaker over all the teams – Florida A&M, Coppin State and S.C. State – who are a threat to grab the fifth spot. The Aggies were led by Jason Wills’ 18 points on 7-for-13 shooting. But overall it was a bad shooting night for the Aggies who shot just 40 percent from the field.

Meanwhile, the Bison hit 14 of its 33 3-pointers, including some big was down the stretch that helped it clinch the victory. Even with Howard’s success from 3-point range, it was what Eaves expected them to do. But Eaves was disappointed that the Aggies could never combat the 3-point shooting with consistent shooting of their own.

“They shot as well as they can shoot it from out there, but still only scored 66 points,’’ said Eaves. “We wanted to keep them out there and off the free throw line. We did that. They only went to the line 10 times. But we just couldn’t score it. That’s what it boiled down to.”

The Aggies took a 40-33 lead on an Austin Ewing 3-point play with 16:21 remaining in the game. The Bison responded by going on a 9-2 run to tie the game at 42 with 11:53 remaining. The two teams remained close over the next six minutes. A hook shot in the lane by 5-foot-11 Steven Rush tied the game for the seventh time on the night, this time at 50 apiece with 5:27 to play.

Then the threes began to fall for the Bison. Curtis White hit back-to-back threes to give the Bison a six-point advantage. Howard forward Eugene Myatt added a jumper from the free throw line to push the lead up to eight. But Wills responded with a jump shot of his own and Rush hit his only 3-pointer of the game to pull the Aggies to within three, 58-55, with 2:34 to play.

The Bison answered the Aggies run the same way they answered the previous one – 3-point shooting. Kandi Mukole knocked a three followed by a Randy Hampton three that gave the Bison a comfortable nine-point advantage with less than two minutes to go.

“We’re hitting and missing right now,’’ said Eaves. “We’re not playing consistent basketball at this time. We’ve never lost more than two conference games in a row, but at the same time we’re too up and down. We either play very well like we did at S.C. State when we scored 45 points in 20 minutes. Or we play like we play like we played today – 58 in points in 40 minutes. That’s because we’re so inconsistent with our offensive scoring.”

The Aggies ‘O’ will try to get back on track when it faces Hampton, Monday night at 7:30 p.m. The Aggies will need to beat the Pirates by 17 if they plan to grab the tiebreaker over Hampton and move up in the seeding for the tournament.