EAST GREENSBORO – The North Carolina A&T men’s basketball team picked up their first home win of the season despite not having the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference’s (MEAC) all-time assist leader, Kameron Langley, in the lineup. The Aggies still cruised to a 91-45 win over Greensboro College at Corbett Sports Center Friday evening.
The win snaps a five-game losing streak for the Aggies (3-7).
“Really proud of our defensive effort,” said N.C. A&T head coach Will Jones. “And it was great to play without Kam tonight. It gave us another opportunity for growth.”
The Pride (1-5), a Division III USA South Conference school two miles from N.C. A&T’s campus led 5-0 before junior guard Quentin Jones swished a 3-pointer for the Aggies. N.C. A&T tied the game on a sweet alley-oop between juniors Blake Harris on the dish and Tyrone Lyons on the dunk. It was Aggie dominance from that point on.
N.C. A&T grabbed the lead for good after another Jones 3-pointer gave the Aggies an 8-6 lead three minutes into the game.
The Aggies shot 60 percent from the field in the first half and led 42-26 at halftime thanks to 5-for-5 shooting from Jones. Junior guard Kenyon Duling capped off an 11-2 Aggies run by beating the buzzer to hit a 3-pointer to give the Aggies the 16-point lead at the break.
It was a sloppy half for both sides as there were 29 turnovers between the two teams, with Aggies contributing 16 of them.
“I explained to them at halftime that they had to play together,” said Jones. “They were trying to do it all on one opportunity, one pass or ‘I’ve got the ball and it’s my turn.’ That’s not how you win games at this level. You win games at this level by using your teammates, passing it a couple of times and getting a better shot. They took what we said in the locker room to heart.”
In the second half, the Aggies outscored the Pride 49-19 and held GC to 8-for 39 (20.5 percent) shooting. N.C. A&T cut down their turnovers to just six in the second half and forced the Pride into eight themselves. The Aggies also had a whopping 58-31 advantage in rebounding over the Pride.
The Aggies executed a 15-5 run over five minutes to push their lead to 68-37 with 10:42 remaining in the game. The run was aided primarily by seven points from graduate transfer forward Tyler Jones. N.C. A&T shot 4-for-5, including 3-for-3 from 3-point range during the run. The Aggies enjoyed their largest lead of the game at 46, also the margin of victory, after sophomore wing Jibril McCormick sunk two free throws with under a minute left.
Fourteen players played for the Aggies, all of them scored and the Aggies posted 62 bench points led by Tyler Jones’ 16 points on 6-for-7 shooting.
Joining him in double-figures were Quentin Jones with 14 and freshman guard Milton Matthews with 10. Senior guard Darus Maddox, who transferred to N.C. A&T from GC earlier in his career had six points, six rebounds and three assists.
The Aggies shot 54.8 percent from the field while holding GC to just 22.5 percent shooting. GC’s leading scorer Greyson Collins was held without a point on 0-for-7 shooting. Sophomore wing Matthew Brown was the lone double-figure scorer for the Pride with his 14 points.
The Aggies will hit the road for the Queen City to take on the Charlotte 49ers tomorrow, Dec. 19, at 4 p.m. in Charlotte, N.C.
