Aggie Basketball
AGGIES BREAK LONG
ROAD LOSING STREAK
Aggies with 15
points and eight rebounds
WASHINGTON, D.C.,
February 21, 2005 - N.C. A&T men’s
basketball coach calls it another part of the process. On Monday, the Aggies
snapped a 31-game road losing streak that extended back to the 2002-2003
season by beating Howard 67-63 at Burr Gymnasium.
Freshman Jason Wills had
his best game of the season, finishing with 15 points and eight rebounds.
Sean Booker chipped in with 17 and
Rechodd Carter ended the day with 11. The Aggies win also marked the
first time they have swept an opponent since the 2001-2002 season.
“All good things come in
time,’’ said Eaves. “We’re slowly getting this program back to where it
needs to be, so everything for us is a process, a small step in getting us
toward that goal of being an excellent program.”
“It gets frustrating
sometimes because I want to give (them an excellent program) right now, but
I can’t. It’s something we’re going to have to earn and tonight was a step
in that direction.”
Howard appeared to be on its way to snapping out of its funk when it took a
31-24 lead to the locker room and extended it to 47-35 at the 11:10 mark.
But the Aggies stepped up their full-court pressure and went on an 18-5 run
that gave them a 53-52 lead at the 6:45 mark. It was a deep three pointer
by Booker that completed the run.
“We
just stayed with what we do,” Eaves said. “We continued to press in the
second half and got a little more engaged. I think Howard got a little
tired and we were able to take advantage of it.”
“This is an important
because with the tournament coming up, we know we can go on a neutral floor
and win.”
From there, the two teams exchanged blows with neither taking more than a
four-point lead. Along the way, there were three ties and five lead
changes.
The
game eventually boiled down to who would make free throws and the Aggies did
a better job, hitting on five of eight in the last minute with Wills
accounting for four and Carter three.
The
Bison failed to get convert on their last two possessions and North Carolina
A&T escaped with the win to complete the sweep.
Howard got a career-high 19 points from freshman walk-on Reggie Bates, 13
from Will Gant and 12 from Darryl Hudson.
Monday, marked the final road game of the season for N.C. A&T. The Aggies improved to 5-21 overall and 4-11 in the MEAC. Their five wins are more wins than they have had the last two seasons combined. The Aggies face Florida A&M 4 p.m., Saturday at the Corbett Sports Center.