Alston ties a career high with seven assists

Box Score
EVANSVILLE, Ind., December 20, 2008 – In just two days, the North Carolina A&T men’s basketball team turned back into the athletic, feisty and determined team head coach Jerry Eaves has grown to admire this season.

Unfortunately, it was not quite enough to earn the Aggies first road win of the season as Evansville held off a late N.C. A&T rally to win 73-66 Saturday night at Robert Stadium. Senior guards Ed Jones and Dwane Joshua had 16 points apiece. Junior point guard Tavarus Alston added 11 points and seven assists, and Nick Wilson came off the bench to score 11.

“I was very pleased with the way the guys played tonight considering the way we played a few nights earlier against Tulane,’’ said Eaves. “December is the time where you need to show the most improvement before the conference season starts. Even though we didn’t win, it was good to see us get back to doing the things we do best.”

Alston had the ball in his hands making plays, while Joshua found his range again from the 3-point arc with four threes and Jones and Wilson also provided the Aggies with some offensive muscle.

The Aggies (5-6), however, did run into trouble six minutes into the second half. The Purple Aces caught fire for a three-minute stretch that saw them go 4-for-5 from the floor, including two three pointers, and 4-for-4 from the free throw line. Their hot streak was a part of a 14-0 run that helped the Purple Aces gain a 56-41 lead with 10:28 remaining in the game.

Evansville’s scoring outburst prompted Eaves to call a 30-second timeout. “We were okay,’’ said Eaves. “We just needed to gather ourselves and fight with some Aggie Pride over the last 10 minutes.”

Back-to-back 3-pointers from Joshua and Wilson moved the Aggies back to within nine. After an Alston free throw and two free throws from Evansville’s Shy Ely, Jones hit another three for the Aggies to close the gap to 58-51 with 8:09 to play.

Jones closed out the Aggies 13-2 run with two free throws to trim the lead to 58-54. The Aces saw their lead lowered to three with 3:35 remaining as an Alston steal lead to a Jones dunk that made it 63-60.  The score remained the same over the next 90 seconds although it appeared the Aggies had a chance to cut into the lead.

But with two minutes remaining, a Thomas Coleman pass went over the head of Jones. The Aces used the miscue as Ely hit two free throws after being fouled by Wilson to take a 65-60 lead. After a missed jump shot from Robert Johnson, Evansville’s Jason Holsinger put a damper in the Aggies hopes of knocking off the Aces as he hit a 3-pointer at the 1:05 mark to give Evansville a 68-60 advantage.

It was Holsinger’s sixth 3-pointer of the night as he finished with 20 points and five rebounds. Ely registered a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Evansville led by as many as eight in the first half. Leading 32-24 with 44 seconds remaining in the first half, the Aggies began to reduce the Aces’ lead. Alston scored on a layup and then launched a halfcourt shot that fell through the net at the buzzer to send the Aggies into the locker room down 32-29 at the half.

The Aggies will take a break for the holidays before returning to action Dec. 28 at the University of Georgia. Game time is 2:30 p.m.