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WILLS STEPS UP IN WIN
OVER MONTREAT
GREENSBORO, November 19, 2007 – Jason Wills registered his 10th career double as he finished with 19 points and matched a career high with 14 rebounds to lead the North Carolina A&T men’s basketball team to an 82-51 win over Monteat at the Greensboro Coliseum Monday night.
James Porter added 10 points and seven rebounds – both career highs – and Austin Ewing finished with 11 points and four assists. The Aggies out-rebounded the Cavaliers 60-37.
“We’re just trying to find a cohesive group,’’ said N.C. A&T head coach Jerry Eaves. “I don’t like the production we’re getting at the beginning of games. So in the second half I really played a lot of different rotations.”
The Cavaliers did an effective job of penetrating and dishing the ball out to 3-point range for open shots. Meanwhile the Aggies struggled early, hitting just 4 of their first 17 shots. Seth Moore followed up his own miss with 9:46 remaining in the first half to give the Cavaliers a 14-11 lead.
After four straight Aggie misses, three of them from 3-point range, Aaron Coolazo hit a three from the corner to give the NAIA Montreat Cavaliers a six point lead at 17-11. The Aggies turned up the pressure and began asserting themselves from there. Steven Rush hit a three to cut the lead to four and Jason Wills used a Cavalier turnover to pull the Aggies to within one.
Another Coolazo three put the Cavaliers back up by four with 6:34 remaining in the first, but it would be the last basket the Cavaliers would score for 3 ½ minutes. The Aggies went a 13-0 run that was capped by a Rush 3-pointer to give the Aggies a 29-20 lead with 3:01 remaining in the first half.
N.C. A&T took a 36-24 lead into the locker room. When Ewing nailed a 3-pointer at the 16:11 mark of the second half, the Aggies had taken control of the game with a 48-28 lead.
“We had an opportunity to play in a different environment tonight,’’ said N.C. A&T head coach Jerry Eaves. “I think we would have been a lot more comfortable at Corbett. But there are times when you need to do that because you never know when you have to play in this type of arena in the NCAA Tournament. And we know we have to play in the MEAC Tournament in an arena like this in Raleigh.”
The Aggies are above .500 for the first time under Eaves, and they are over .500 for the first time since the 2000-2001 season.
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