Roy Bright and Donald Johnson led all scorers with 19 points each as the Delaware State Hornets held off the Aggies of North Carolina A&T 70-66 keeping them in the hunt of the MEAC regular season race.

The Aggies came out on fire connecting on 52 percent (15-of-29) of their shots from the floor in the first half. Three 3-pointers in the first six minutes of the contest by Austin Ewing gave N.C. A&T their biggest lead of the game at 12 points (17-5) with 14:31 left in the half.

The Hornets didn’t panic and slowly cut into the lead after putting together a 18-4 run in the final six minutes of the half to take a 39-35 lead into the locker room.

It was a nip and tuck battle in the second half that saw the Hornets take control of the game at the 5:14 mark getting the lead for good, 62-60, on two free throws by Joe Dickens.

The Hornets turned up their defensive efforts in the second half holding the Aggies to 44 percent shooting from the floor. There were four ties and three lead changes in the contest. DSU also shot 85 percent (11-of-13) from the charity stripe compared to 59 percent (14-of-25) for the Aggies.

Also scoring in double figures for the Hornets was Dickens, who finished with a double-double of 16 points and a game high 10 rebounds.

Pacing the Aggies was Angelo Hernadez with 14 points, Steven Rush (12) and Austin Ewing (11).

The win improved the Hornets to 11-13 and 8-4 in the MEAC, while the Aggies fell to 13-12 and 7-5.