North Carolina A&T has its first Coastal Athletic Association win this season in dramatic fashion.
Trent Middleton hit a pair of foul shots with 3.9 seconds remaining in regulation to give the Aggies a 79-78 win over Hofstra that snapped a six-game losing streak.
“Obviously, thrilled to get our first league win,” said NC A&T head coach Monté Ross. “I thought except for Monday night against Hampton, we were close, and we just didn’t do the little things to win games. We couldn’t get those stops at the end of the game to get over the hump. But tonight, I was extremely, extremely proud of these guys.
Cruz Davis, the conference’s leading scorer, had 20 first-half points on 8-for-12 shooting. He ended the night with 30 points. Meanwhile, Jaeden Roberts made 5 of 6 3-pointers coming off the bench in the first half on his way to 17 first-half points.
Despite all the hot shooting, the Aggies trailed 43-30 at halftime.
“We challenged the guys at halftime to take away that 3-point shot and make these guys have to put the ball on the deck,” said Ross. “On the other end of the floor, offensively, I just thought (Trent) got into a rhythm. Obviously, (Lewis Walker) got into a rhythm. And when that happens, we want these guys to take good shots as they did. But we want to keep feeding and riding the hot hand.”
Within the first six minutes of the second half, the Aggies erased Hofstra’s lead as Middleton’s jumper brought the Aggies to within two at 57-55. A&T tied the game at 65 on a beautiful turnaround baseline jumper from Walker with 7:05 remaining in the game.
Thirty seconds later, Middleton gave A&T its first lead since the 12:44 mark of the first half when he pulled up for a 3-pointer to give the Aggies a 68-65 advantage. An Amadou Doumbia tip-in gave the Aggies a five-point advantage with 5 ½ minutes to play.
“These guys got a lot of pride,” said Ross. “And we really reduced it to being back in the playground, where you just had to guard them. Forget all that stuff we talked about; let’s go mano y mano. Guard these guys. And I think these guys did a hell of a job.”
The Aggies lead was still four with 2 ½ minutes remaining until Davis’s 3-point play got the Aggies to within 76-75. Roberts tied the game at with a free throw before Walker’s pull-up jumper put the Aggies ahead by two.
Davis made both free throws to tie the game before Middleton drove to the basket and got bumped by Hofstra center Silas Sunday with 3.9 seconds remaining. Middleton missed the first free throw but made the second to put the Aggies ahead 79-78.
“No pressure, coach believed in me, my teammates believed in me,” said Middleton. “I just had to step up and get it.”
Hofstra’s Biggie Patterson got a good look to win the game from just beyond 3-point range, but his shot went long, giving the Aggies their first conference win.
