TROJANS DEFEAT AGGIES

TROJANS DEFEAT AGGIES

LOS ANGELES, December 23, 2005 -- Four days after giving the most points in the Jerry Eaves era, the Aggies had a much better defensive performance against the Southern California Trojans, but struggled to put the ball in the hoop in a 68-38 loss at the Sports Arena in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

The Aggies 38-point output was their lowest since scoring 25 points in a 25-23 win over Elon in 1970. For the second consecutive game, junior guard Derek Crumpton led the Aggies in scoring. Crumpton finished with seven points as the Aggies failed to place a single player in double figures.

"I thought we played much better defensively,'' said Eaves, who is in his third season as the head men's basketball coach at N.C. A&T. "This is a team that just beat North Carolina, and we come out and hold them to under 40 percent shooting in the first half. If we can keep giving that kind of effort defensively, the offense will take care of itself."

The Aggies (0-8), who were playing a PAC-10 team for the first time in the men's basketball program's history, kept the Trojans close throughout the first half and in the opening minutes of the second half.

USC claimed its first 20-point lead on a Young layup with 15:30 remaining. About two minutes later, the Trojans led by 25 points when Pruitt hit one of his three 3-pointers. At the outset, both teams started slowly, putting up shots that clanked off the rim and airballs. Only eight points were scored by both squads through nearly seven minutes of action.

The Trojans, however, rattled off runs of 14-2 and 7-0 and entered halftime leading 29-17. The Aggies might have made the game even closer in the first half, but shot just 29.6 percent in the first half and 26.7 percent for the game. Lodrick Stewart led the Trojans with 19 points and Gabe Pruitt added 13 for the Trojans who improved to 9-2 on the season.

The Aggies play the third game in their four-game, 13-day road trip on Tuesday, December 27 when they travel to Hawaii to play the Rainbows. The trip concludes with a game at Cincinnati on December 30 before the Aggies begin playing conference games exclusively on January 4 at Maryland-Eastern Shore.