BEARS GET IN A ZONE, DEFEAT AGGIES
Aggies shoot just 22 percent from the foul line in the second half

GREENSBORO, N.C., February 7, 2005 – The N.C. A&T men's basketball team proved to Aaron Andrews and his Morgan State teammates it could score around the basket. So, Andrews and company wanted the Aggies to prove something else. Can they knock down the outside shot? The Aggies had a hard time finding that kind of evidence as they shot 30 percent in the second half on their way to a 63-61 loss to Morgan State. Aggies guard Steven Koger had a chance to win the game with 0.8 seconds remaining, but his shot was off the mark. The Aggies fell to 4-17, 3-7 in the conference, while the Bears improved to 8-13, 6-5 in the MEAC.

Ronald Timus came off the bench to lead the Bears with 21 points and 13 rebounds on 7-for-11 shooting. Sean Booker led the Aggies with 22 points, while Rechodd Carter finished with 13 points and five assists. “They have a team full of guys who can slash to the basket and make things happen,'' said Andrews. “They're real good and driving and dishing to the open shooter. We wanted to see if we could turn them into strictly a jump shooting team, so we went to a zone and it seemed to bother them.”

The Aggies did miss a number of perimeter shots, but thanks to 15 offensive rebounds, they did have their share of shots around the basket. Those opportunities went for not as they missed 11 shots around the basket in the second half. “We had to try hard to find a way to lose this game tonight, and we did,'' said coach Jerry Eave s. “We simply gave it to them.” Freshman Jason Wills , who came off the bench and had the best game of his young career with seven points, gave the Aggies their final lead of the ball as he banged inside for a layup that gave N.C. A&T a 53-51 lead with 7:52 to play. The Bears scored the next seven points as the Aggies went on a 3 ½ minute drought. The spurt gave the Bears a 58-53 lead with 4:14 remaining. Two consecutive Bears turnovers, however, led to consecutive fastbreak points as the Aggies crawled back to within one with 2:28 to play.

The Aggies next field goal did not occur until two minutes and seven seconds later, unfortunately. Down 63-58, Sean Booker connected on a 3-pointer. A Morgan State turnover gave the Aggies 18 seconds to win or tie the game. But Booker missed a three and Koger's last-second effort went wide left. “We were out of sync once they went zone,'' Carter said. “It threw us off when it really should not have. We get to see them again this week and I think we'll be ready for what they throw at us.” The Aggies will travel to Baltimore to face the Bears on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. The Aggies don't return home until Feb. 26 when they face Florida A&M.