ST. LOUIS, January 2, 2009 ? The North Carolina A&T Aggies converted on just one field goal in the last seven minutes of the game to fall to St. Louis 60-52 at Chaifetz Arena Friday night. Thomas Coleman led the Aggies with 14 points, eight rebounds and four blocks. Tavarus Alston added 10 points and three assists.
“I thought we played a good game, but we’re going to have to learn how to execute a little better down the stretch,’’ said Eaves. “We had an opportunity to win this game, but we just did not score the basketball in the second half like we have in the past in these types of games. The kids played with emotion, but we just didn’t do the things needed to win the game.”
The Aggies maintained a double-digit lead until a Tommy Liddell III dunk six minutes into the second half cut the lead to 44-35.
Kevin Lisch’s jumper moved the lead to seven before a technical foul on the Aggies bench gave the Billikens two more points on free-throws. A free-throw by Liddell completed the Billikens’ 7-0 run to cut the Aggies lead to 44-40 with 12:31 to play. But the Aggies continued to keep the Billikens at a distance. Coleman went high to rebound a missed shot from teammate Dwane Joshua. He came down and quickly went back up for a dunk and a 50-45 Aggies lead with less than nine minutes to play.
Barry Eberhardt answered for the Billikens with a layup just before a media timeout. Out of the timeout, Willie Reed made an excellent cut to the basket and teammate Paul Eckerle saw him and zipped a pass to him for a layup and a foul on Coleman. Reed completed the 3-point play to tie the game at 50.
The Aggies all but duplicated the play on their next possession as Alston went backdoor on the baseline and received a pass from Julian McClurkin to give the Aggies a 52-50 lead with seven minutes remaining. Alston’s layup would be the Aggies final field goal of the game.
Both teams struggled from the floor over the final seven minutes, but two Brian Conklin free throws tied the game at 52 with four minutes remaining, and another Conklin free throw 90 seconds later gave the Billikens their first lead since the 16:19 mark of the first half.
The Aggies had a chance to regain the lead, but committed a turnover on one possession and had a Coleman short-range jumper roll off the rim on another. Willie Reed took advantage by scoring on a layup with 32 seconds remaining. After another Aggies turnover, their sixth in the final six minutes of the game, the Billikens sealed the game with free throws.
“It’s good that we had this opportunity to play a team like St. Louis in a venue like this,’’ said Eaves about 7,265 that filled the 10,000-seat Chaifetz Arena. “We get to go back and watch the tape and they are going to see themselves not execute, so hopefully the next time when we are playing in a conference game we’ll be able to do the things like go strong to the basket, catch the ball and take good shots in the late minutes to win.”
The Aggies have one more non-conference game before traveling to Baltimore to face Morgan State on Jan. 10 at 4 p.m. The Aggies host Tennessee Wesleyan at Corbett Sports Center Monday night at 7. If the Aggies are able to play in conference play the way they played in the first half against St. Louis, it could be a prosperous season.
A Wilson 3-pointer sparked a 7-0 Aggies run to give the Aggies a 29-12 lead with 4:52 remaining in the first half. After a Billikens 3-pointer, Coleman scored four straight points to give the Aggies their biggest lead of the night at 33-15.
“Our team has a real opportunity this year,’’ said Eaves. “We have to continue to grow, and we have to find ways to win the close ones.”