www.news-record.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070309/NEWSREC0105/70309008/1021/GTCOMRoommates help Aggies reach semis
Print Email this Article By Darrick Ignasiak
Special to the News & Record
What: N.C. A&T vs. Florida A&M in the MEAC men’s semifinals
When: 8 tonight
Where: RBC Center, Raleigh
Other semifinal: Delaware State vs. Morgan State, 6
Championship: 6 p.m. Saturday
More online:
www.meachoops.comRALEIGH — Steven Rush and Austin Ewing came up with the slogan " '06-07" last season.
The message: This would be N.C. A&T's best basketball season in quite some time.
The roommates did their part Thursday night to make it happen. They led the Aggies to an 81-66 victory over Norfolk State in the MEAC tournament quarterfinals.
It was A&T's first tournament victory since 2001.
Rush, who came off the bench, scored a team-high 18 points, and Ewing contributed 11 at the RBC Center in Raleigh. And the Aggies (15-16) swept their three games against Norfolk State this season.
A&T will play Florida A&M in the semifinals tonight.
Rush and Ewing plotted this season while sitting out last season, Ewing because of an injured shoulder, Rush because of NCAA transfer rules.
Rush has become the team's leading scorer and an all-conference player. Ewing ranks third on the team in scoring and assists.
Coach Jerry Eaves called the two guards "a tremendous asset. They both can shoot the ball well, understand the game. They are tremendous free-throw shooters, when people put us on the line. Overall, shooters win the war."
Rush and Ewing sped up the pace Thursday, and Norfolk State (11-19) couldn't keep up. Rush shot 5-for-6 from 3-point range and 3-for-3 from the free-throw line. Ewing was only 1-for-5 from the field but 8-for-8 from the line.
Norfolk State focused on Rush in the first half, and he wasn't happy going into the locker room.
"I got frustrated a little bit, and I came back to the locker room and Coach told me to be patient and let it come to me," said Rush, a Greensboro Day graduate. "In the second half, the guys were able to find me on screens. I was able to convert on them."
Ewing credits Rush for his improvement this season.
"No matter how I bad I play, he's there to tell me it's all right," Ewing said. "Confidence is the main thing."
Five players ended up scoring in double digits. Jason Wills scored 11 despite foul trouble, and Greg Roberts and Glenn Nelson scored 10 apiece.
As Rush walked off the court, he held up one finger, signaling that the Aggies were No. 1.
"I want it bad," Rush said. "I grew up around A&T when it was in its prime. It's not for me, coach Eaves. It's for the A&T family."
