Four Aggies reach double figures

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GREENSBORO, January 26, 2008 – Steven Rush is literally Aggie born and Aggie bred. Therefore, it didn’t sit well with the Greensboro native who grew up around the North Carolina A&T campus that the hated Winston-Salem State Rams had two consecutive football victories over the Aggies.

Therefore, Rush decided to do something about it. He was unbelievably accurate in the first seven minutes of Saturday’s renewal of the North Carolina A&T/Winston-Salem State men’s basketball rivalry, hitting five of his first six 3-pointers to lead the Aggies to a 75-56 win in front of a sellout crowd of 5,834 at Irvin-Corbett Court. 

“We’ve been anticipating this all year long, especially after football season,’’ said Rush. “Winston beat us pretty good in football. Talk all-around campus has been about how we need to make up for that.”

Rush came in with the intent to get an eager Aggies crowd into the game early. He launched his first three from the corner, connected and then turned and pointed to the crowd.  A minute later at the 16:40 mark, he pulled from deep and netted a three to give the Aggies an 8-2 lead. Afterward he raised his arms in the air to insight more cheers from the Aggie faithful.

No matter who the Rams threw at him, Rush kept knocking down 3-pointers. On many occasions he did it by simply squaring up and shooting the ball over Ram defenders. By the time Rush hit his fifth three in the first seven minutes, the Aggies led 23-8.

Rush’s start must of inspired his teammates. Trahern Chaplin knocked down an open jump shot, Glenn Nelson took down a rebound and dribble the ball the length of the floor to score. Chaplin followed that with another Aggie 3-pointer. Nick Wilson capped the Aggies 9-2 run with a layup via a Nelson bounce pass that gave the Aggies a 32-10 lead with 8:42 remaining in the half.

For the Aggie fans, who watched the Aggies shoot nearly 70 percent over the first 12 minutes of the game, it was good to see the Aggies dominating the Rams after a 10-year layoff in the rivalry. But for head coach Jerry Eaves it was great to see his team finally getting off to a great start.

“That was truly the first time all year we had a quick start,’’ said Eaves. “Last year we had a lot of quick starts. But it hasn’t been there this year, so it’s good to see it come. It came at the right time.”

The Rams worked the Aggies lead down to 12, 45-33 with 14:33 remaining. But the Rams would run into technical difficulties. Isiah Tucker would get whistled for an undercutting Jason Wills on Wills’ attempt to run down a loose ball. Rush went to the line to knock down two free throws and halt the Rams momentum. Freshman center Thomas Coleman put an emphatic seal on the Aggies victory with a follow-up slam of a Wills miss.

Rush finished 23 points. Wills added 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists. “He talked about playing Winston-Salem State all summer,’’ said Eaves. “It’s just in his blood. He grew up watching it, so it’s a tremendous thing to him. I am glad they’re in the conference. It’s great for both schools. In the state, you’ve got Carolina versus Duke. But you’ve also got the A&T/Winston-Salem State Rams rivalry. That’s very good too. I am glad it started again.”

The Aggies improved to 9-9 overall with their fourth straight win. The Rams fell to 8-10 as Jamal Durham led them with 17 points. The Aggies are in action again Monday night at 8 when they face conference rival S.C. State.