AGGIES WIN FIRST ROAD GAME OF THE SEASON

AGGIES WIN FIRST ROAD GAME OF THE SEASON

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – February 13, 2006 – It took a while, but the Aggies may have finally figured out how to win away from the friendly confines of Cal Irvin/Don Corbett Court.

Mix in a season-best 14 3-pointers, a dose of great defense and timely free throw shooting, and the Aggies walked out of Gaither Gymnasium with a 73-70 victory over Florida A&M.

Michael Hayes led the Aggies with 19 points, including a career-best six 3-pointers. Leslie Powell set two career highs as he ended the night with 16 points and five three-pointers. Trahern Chaplin hit three treys on his way to 12 points.

“Normally, on the road we don’t hit shots,’’ said head coach Jerry Eaves. “We get to a point in the game where we hit a drought and don’t score for a while, and then we start missing free throws and the next thing you know we’re hanging our heads. Tonight, we shot the ball with confidence. That was the difference.”

Powell hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Aggies a 65-63 lead with 3:12 remaining in the contest. After the two teams traded baskets, a Greg Roberts put back pushed the Aggies lead to four, 69-65 with 1:22 remaining.

After two Tony Tate free throws, Walter Booth made one of two for a 70-67 Aggie lead. Jason Wills then came up with the defensive stop of the night. He blocked a Tate layup and made two free throws to seal the Aggies first win over Florida A&M in nine tries. The win also marked the first time the Aggies have won in Tallahassee since the 1999-2000 season.

“My team played their guts out,’’ said Eaves. “It all goes back to hitting shots. We got some big free throws from Jason Wills, Leslie Powell played the best game of his career…the guys just came up big tonight. We had to mix things up a little bit just to wake some guys and it work. Everyone contributed.”

Eaves started Angelo Hernandez Monday, a Philadelphia native who was a late addition to the Aggies active roster this season. The Aggies will go for road win No. 2 on Saturday when they travel to Baltimore to face Coppin State at 4 p.m.