Men vs. Morgan State

[DECKS]

Good effort until the last 7 minutes. At that point we got lazy on defense and started hoisting up bad shots.


A&T 67
MSU 81

[Brandmasta]

Its my fault. They were up 10 when I first turned the TV on. I should have stayed away

[Bornthrilla]

BEARS' SCORING OUTBURST DOWNS A&T

BALTIMORE – An interesting and unusual season for the North Carolina A&T men’s basketball continued on Monday for the nation to see.

Morgan State scored 41 points over the last 12 ½ minutes of the game to down the Aggies 81-67 during a nationally televised game on ESPNU from Hill Field House. The Bears’ 41-point outburst added to a unique season that has seen the Aggies be successful against the top teams in the conference, but unsuccessful against some of the lower teams in the MEAC.

It has also been a season that has seen the Aggies go through long stretches without being able to score despite taking good shots. It appeared all of the above happened on Monday.

Over the first five minutes of the game, the Aggies trailed by 14. But thanks to three consecutive made 3-pointers – two by Austin Witter – helped the Aggies tie the game at 23. The Bears regained the lead at 28-27 with a Reggie Holmes 3-pointer before the Aggies ended the half on a 10-4 run aided by two Tavarus Alston 3-pointers, including one at the buzzer.

Six-and-half minutes into the second half; the Aggies were poised to pull off another upset in the conference. A Thomas Coleman layup gave the Aggies a 47-36 advantage. A minute later, an Alston jumper put the Aggies in front 50-40.

Morgan State took over from there. The Bears went on a 24-6 run over the next six minutes to take a 64-56 lead. Witter ended the run with a 3-pointer from the top of the key. The Aggies could not sustain it. They went 0-for-5 from the field and 0-for-2 from the line during a 15-2 Bears run that put the game away.

“When the score was 50-40, we stopped playing,’’ said head coach Jerry Eaves. “We turned the ball over too many times and that’s when the momentum switched. It seems that keeping focus is hard for us to do.”

Coleman led the Aggies with 16 points and 14 rebounds as he recorded his 10th double-double of the season. His rebounding total put him over 600 rebounds for his career, making him the eighth Aggie in school history to do so. Alston and Dwane Joshua had 16 and 14 points respectively.

Morgan State improved to 23-9 overall and 14-1 in the MEAC. Holmes led the Bears with 32 points on eight 3-pointers. Joe Davis added 15 points and four assists.

The Aggies dropped to 10-20 overall and 6-9 in the MEAC. As it stands now, they will go into the tournament as the No. 9 seed. The Aggies will play their regular-season finale on Thursday against Norfolk State at 8 p.m., from Corbett Sports Center. It will be senior day for Alston, Joshua, Johnson and James Porter.

“We’re just going to keep working,’’ said Eaves. “We’ve proven we can compete with every team in the conference, so we’re looking forward to the tournament.”

[oleschoolaggie]

Mar 1, 2010 23:11:59 GMT -5 DECKS said:

Good effort until the last 7 minutes. At that point we got lazy on defense and started hoisting up bad shots.


A&T 67
MSU 81

also, from my viewpoint, it looked like morgan shifted to a much higher gear around the 7 minute mark. i was at the game, so i didn't get to see the replays, but it appeared from courtside that morgan just decided to takeover the game before it was too late.

but when jerry called that timeout after morgan sprinted out to that early 14 point lead, eaves laid a serious cussin' on the guys! man, he was steamed! that's when they came back into the game and played some of the best defense i've seen them play all season long. too bad we couldn't hold on for the win. i sat there the whole time while we had that lead wondering when morgan was gonna turn up the heat. not if, but when. well, i got my answer late in the 2nd half.

but overall, aside from an "alley-oop" dunk or two, our guys didn't embarrass themselves. and just when i began to question witter's worth, dude comes in and knocks down some key 3 pointers last night...

[DECKS]

I also knew Morgan was gonna turn up the heat over the last 10 minutes. That's why I wanted to see us slow the game down and look for better shots. To often we took quick shots. We just don't know when to play with patience. On a bright note Coleman dominated the game for a short stretch in the second half. On defense we started overplaying the passing lanes which led to easy baskets by Morgan and when Reggie Holmes got hot I knew it was over.

[SixtiesAggie]

Let's not over analyze this game or have more misgivings or outcrys about the plight of Aggie Basketball and take it for what it is, another loss and another losing season. We will probably have this same situation until _____________ and _____________. Fill in the blanks with whatever suits you.

Let's hope for an inspired miracle in Winston or at least an inspired effort.

[JeffAggieFan]

The game did show that we can hang with Morgan and put a lot of pressure on the guards. If we match up with in the quarters we have a great chance for the upset.

[SixtiesAggie]

Won't A&T be seated ninth??? They will most likely play Howard. We have lost to them twice. Do any of you think that the third time will be the charm (a win) The laws of average have got to be in our favor by now.

[bseballaggie]

Mar 2, 2010 9:45:47 GMT -5 DECKS said:

I also knew Morgan was gonna turn up the heat over the last 10 minutes. That's why I wanted to see us slow the game down and look for better shots. To often we took quick shots. We just don't know when to play with patience. On a bright note Coleman dominated the game for a short stretch in the second half. On defense we started overplaying the passing lanes which led to easy baskets by Morgan and when Reggie Holmes got hot I knew it was over.

Coleman consistently shows flashes of D1A Bball skills, Eaves or the school should invest in him attending a Akeem Alojuwan or Patrick Ewing, big man camp this summer, It will be a very interesting season next year, with Coleman, Lester, Upchurch,Wittier and Point Guard? those key four with the right game structure(inside-out game) could really turn the program around some of theses kids (potential)skill levels remind me of some Coach Corbetts *) 80's teams!

[Trueaggie]

Only one thing; Eaves doesn't play an inside out game. He shoots 3's; and you are correct Coleman should have went to a big man camp after his Freshman year when he was second in the MEAC in blocked shots. The difference in this team and Corbetts team is that this team is soft, not aggressive, weak; I'm not saying everybody but the majority of Eaves recruits are. Other than Johnson, Joshua, and Alston, the rest need to be more aggresive.

[bseballaggie]

Mar 2, 2010 14:17:33 GMT -5 Trueaggie said:

Only one thing; Eaves doesn't play an inside out game. He shoots 3's; and you are correct Coleman should have went to a big man camp after his Freshman year when he was second in the MEAC in blocked shots. The difference in this team and Corbetts team is that this team is soft, not aggressive, weak; I'm not saying everybody but the majority of Eaves recruits are. Other than Johnson, Joshua, and Alston, the rest need to be more aggresive.

Its clear to me that Ray Lester is a inside, take it to the rim type player, if he's being brought in to shoot threes, it has become evident that we have a confused coach, Eaves should recruit the white kids from overseas if he wants pure shooting 6'5 and up big men!

[thefriscotxaggie]

I really like how Upchurch plays. He is aggressive. Makes some freshman type erros but he could be very good.

To me Witter is a guy you bring in off the bench a go to sharp shooter. At this point that seems to be the bulk of his game. I dont think I have ever seen him drive the ball.

[bseballaggie]

Mar 2, 2010 15:25:14 GMT -5 thefriscotxaggie said:

I really like how Upchurch plays. He is aggressive. Makes some freshman type erros but he could be very good.

To me Witter is a guy you bring in off the bench a go to sharp shooter. At this point that seems to be the bulk of his game. I dont think I have ever seen him drive the ball.

With these four kids I would run Duke's offensive scheme, it forces the opponent to have a good defense because any one the four can score and with the constant slashing and back door movement and the big man rotating up top, someone will have a money shot if they finish.