Five Aggies score in double figures  

Box Score
WINSTON-SALEM, January 24, 2009 – The North Carolina A&T men’s basketball accomplished two important tasks on one breezy Saturday night in Winston-Salem, N.C.

First, the Aggies got a chance to play in the building – Lawrence Joel Coliseum – where they will be going after their 17^th MEAC Championship when March arrives. More importantly, the Aggies defeated their arch-rival Winston-Salem State 73-60 in that same building.

Five Aggies scored in double figures led by Tavarus Alston’s 15-points, six assists and four steals on 6-for-10 shooting. Robert Johnson chipped in with 12, and Ed Jones had 11 points and nine rebounds. Thomas Coleman added 10 points and seven rebounds, while Nick Wilson scored 11 points off the Aggies bench.

“It was a great opportunity for us to come in here and play,’’ said head coach Jerry Eaves. “I really appreciate the coliseum for having us in here because it was a chance for us to get used to the atmosphere and the facility. My players know what to expect when they get here in March. I just hope the fan support is the same as it was today because they were tremendous.”

In front of 8,432 fans at the LJVM, the Aggies used their depth to execute a suffocating press that forced the Rams to turn the ball over six times in their first eight possessions of the second half. The Aggies dunked and used layups to break out to a 15-point lead thanks to the pressure. Julian McClurkin, who dunked twice over WSSU defenders, capped off a 12-2 Aggies run to open the second half with a layup to make it 51-36 five minutes into the second half.

“We didn’t play as many people as we wanted,’’ said Eaves. “Our strength is in our numbers. We really want to wear people down. I really need to extend my bench more to get after people and pressure them the entire game. We feel like if we really pressure people, it will help us put the ball in the basket more.”

N.C. A&T overcame its recent shooting woes. For the first time in four games, the Aggies shot 50 percent from the floor. The Aggies maintained a double-digit lead throughout most of the second half, but a Jamal Durham 3-pointer cut the Aggies lead to nine, 65-56, with 5:19 to play.

Durham followed up his 3-pointer with a layup to trim the lead to seven, which was the closest the Rams had been since halftime. After Alston helped the Aggies push the lead back to nine, Dionate Gibson again put the Rams back to within seven, 67-60 with 3:19 to play. But the Rams squandered several opportunities to slice the Aggies lead even further, including a missed dunk and two missed free throws.

An offensive foul by WSSU’s McIntoche Alcius with 1:30 to go sealed the win for the Aggies, who have defeated the Rams five out the last six times the two schools have played. The win also improved the Aggies to 8-11 on the season as they won their first road game of the year after 10 tries.

“Winston played their guts out,’’ said Eaves, who saw the Rams shoot 7-for-20 at the free throw line. “If they hit their free throws it would have been a different game. That takes nothing away from our players because they played hard. We really got after them and created a lot of turnovers. That was they key to the game.”

WSSU only led once in the game, 11-10 four minutes into the contest. N.C. A&T broke out to a 39-30 lead with less than a minute to go in the first half thanks to a Coleman 15-footer. But a Brandon Hobbs free throw and a 3-pointer at the buzzer by Durham put the Rams down 39-34 at the half. Durham led all scorers with 21 points. Gibson had 15 off the Rams bench.

The Aggies will head to Orangeburg, S.C., to face S.C. State on Monday at 9 p.m. The game will be aired live on ESPNU.