MISSED FREE THROWS HURT AGGIES

Aggies go 16-for-33 from the line

Box Score
GREENSBORO, February 25, 2006– Norfolk State is a tough, physical team and held a height advantage over the North Carolina A&T men’s basketball team.

 Therefore, head coach Jerry Eaves wanted the Aggies to take advantage of most if not all of the opportunities that its way. Unfortunately, they didn’t.

 N.C. A&T shot just 48.5 percent from the free throw line and 34.5 percent from the floor in a 75-60 loss to the Spartans Saturday at Cal Irvin-Don Corbett Court.

 The loss keeps the Aggies (5-20, 5-10) in the No. 8 spot as the Mid-Eastern Athletic Tournament in Raleigh approaches. Meanwhile, the Spartans (10-16, 9-7) remain in the hunt for a first-round bye.

 Michael Hayes led the Aggies with 15 points, while Jason Wills added 14 and Leslie Powell finished with 13.

 “We had a lot of opportunities to make this a close game,’’ said Eaves. “But we left a lot of points out there with missed putbacks and free throws. We don’t want this kind of play toward the end of the season. But it was one of those nights.”

 It was night where the Aggies couldn’t get shots to fall and had several droughts throughout the contest. It allowed the Spartans, who despite committing 21 turnovers and shooting 43.6 percent from the field, to build a double-digit lead.

 The Aggies started the game on a 7-0 run, but scored just one field goal over the next 7-plus minutes and the Spartans were able to take a 12-9 lead. N.C. A&T was able to tie the game at 14 with 9:59 remaining first half, but did not score again until the 6:16 mark, allowing the Spartans to go on a 10-0 run before Powell hit a three.

 After taking a 36-30 halftime lead, the Spartans started the second half by outscoring the Aggies 16-4 as they grabbed their biggest lead of the night – 18 – four minutes into the half.

 The Aggies fought back to within 12, 59-47, at the 9:32 mark. But they missed five straight free throws over the next 2 ½ minutes. It was unfortunate because the Spartans went on a scoring drought of their own. After a Tony Murphy 3-pointer at the 10-minute that gave the Spartans 59 points, they didn’t score again for three minutes.

 When Karandick Ogunride ended the drought, the Spartans still held a 12-point advantage, 61-49.

 “We’ve had two straight games at home where we came out flat,’’ said Eaves. “I don’t know what it is, but we just didn’t have the energy to go get the loose balls or give enough effort offensively. We’ll get back to doing what we do best and hopefully get a better result on Monday.”

 The Aggies play Hampton 7:30 p.m., Monday at Carl-Irvin-Don Corbett Court at Corbett Sports Center. The Aggies will be trying to end a 10-game losing streak to the Pirates.