The Aggie men’s basketball team competed in two exhibition games getting them ready for the start of regular season on Friday against Greensboro College.

Over the weekend the basketball team showed true signs of defensive focus and improvements. The Aggies had 13 steals and 11 blocked shots in their 78-47 win against Fayetteville State in the first exhibition game. In the second exhibition game the Aggies defeated the Sabers of Barber Scotia 101-66 and forced 35 turnovers.

 “We’ve got to play 10-times harder Friday (vs. Greensboro College) than we played in our exhibition games,” Head coach Cy Alexander said. “If we play our system the way we’re capable of, it doesn’t matter what the other team does because we’ll be able to defend them.”

Along with good defense the Aggies also played exceptional offense with shooting 49 percent in the second exhibition game compared to 37 percent in the first game. For the two combined exhibitions senior guard Jean Louisme had a total of 28 points, senior forward Austin Witter had a total of  14 points, nine assists and seven rebound, and senior forward Adrian Powell had a total of 26 points. Senior production will be very important this season along with staying out of foul trouble and minimizing turnovers.

“Our toughest challenge is to change the mind set of our seniors from losing to winning,” said Alexander. “That’s going to take an attitude change. It’s incomprehensible to me that North Carolina A&T men’s basketball has gone 15 years without a winning season. This was the most dominant program in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference in my early years as a basketball coach. In order to get back, we have to help the seniors understand how hard they have to work, both physically and mentally, to go from losers to winners.”

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• Symone Kidd, Sports Editor