WILDCATS DEFEAT AGGIES IN DOUBLE OT

Aggies place five players in double figures for the first time this season

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., January 24, 2005 – N.C. A&T head coach Jerry Eaves sees improvement in his basketball team. He sees the perception about his team being an easy win on the schedule changing. He even sees his seniors starting to become leaders.

What he hasn't seen is all the small steps forward translate into wins. The Aggies rallied from a 16-point halftime deficit on the road, but fell short 83-78 in double overtime at Bethune-Cookman's Moore Gymnasium.

“We're getting close, that's all I can tell you,'' Eaves said. “We're right where we need to be, but we can't get where we want to go. A year ago, we probably would not have been good enough to take a team to overtime on the road. This year we're good enough, we just weren't good enough to win it.”

The reason behind not winning it probably lied somewhere between missed free throws (26-for-40) and Wildcats guard Antonio Webb . Webb finished with 35 points on 7-for-9 3-point shooting. Jeff Alvis led five Aggies in double figures with a career-high 16 points.

Aggies forward Greg Roberts scooped up a loose ball and launched a 3-pointer with 16 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the game at 63. On the Wildcats ensuing possession, Webb passed up an open eight-footer and dished off to Michael Williams , who missed a chance to win the game, forcing overtime.

It would mark the last time Webb passed up anything. After a Steven Koger layup gave the Aggies a 71-70 lead with a minute remaining in the first overtime, N.C. A&T freshman Demetrius Guions had an opportunity to make life harder for the Wildcats.

But he made only one of two shots from the free throw line with 17 seconds remaining, giving the Aggies a 72-70 lead. Koger would then foul Webb as Webb drove to the basket. Webb knocked down two free throws, forcing overtime No. 2.

Nothing changed in the second overtime. The Aggies continued to take leads and Webb continued to take them back. An Alvis layup put the Aggies up two, a Webb 3-pointer put the Wildcats up one, 75-74. In fact, Webb scored all 11 points for the Wildcats in the second overtime.

Aggies point guard Rechodd Carter tied the game at 75 by making one of two free throws, and Guions (12 points, 5 rebounds) put the Aggies up three on a 3-point play. Webb never stopped surfing for ways to break the Aggies.

He pushed the ball down the floor and without hesitation tied the game at 78 with his second 3-pointer of the two overtimes. After a Roberts miss, Webb gave the Wildcats the lead for good with a short jump shot that gave the Wildcats an 80-78 lead with 1:09 remaining in double overtime.

“Before we went into the first overtime, I told (Webb) to stop passing the ball,'' said Bethune-Cookman coach Clifford Reed. “I thought he was trying to be a little too unselfish. The shot he passed up at the end of regulation probably was the game winner. I know he has the talent to take over games, and this was a perfect opportunity to take over.”

The Aggies fall to 3-15, 2-5 in the MEAC, while Bethune-Cookman improved to 7-10, 4-3 in the conference. The Aggies will again try to move their small steps into big wins when Maryland-Eastern Shore visits the Corbett Sports Center at 4 p.m., Saturday.

The UMES match-up will be the first of a three-game homestand featuring the three MEAC Maryland teams. Coppin State visits on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 5 at 4, and Morgan State comes in on Monday, Feb. 7 at 7:30 p.m.