The Aggies suffered a 59-57 loss on the road to Winston Salem State on Monday night. They were unable to overcome turnovers and deal with the Rams’ pressure defense.

The Aggies gained an early 18-4 lead, with guard Tavarus Alston knocking down three 3-pointers within the game’s first four minutes. But the Aggies lost their momentum when WSSU started executing their press defense. The Aggies turned the ball over 10 times in the last 10 minutes and went into the half trailing 34-24.

“We turned the ball over way too many times in the first half,” said N.C. A&T head coach Jerry Eaves about his team’s 17 first-half turnovers. “We scored just six points in the last 15 minutes of the first half, which was disturbing because we prepared for their pressure.”

The Aggies would overcome their first-half deficit to take a 47-42 lead with less than seven minutes left in the game. They would hit another scoring drought, however, and didn’t record another field goal until 29 seconds remained on the clock. Even though the Rams shot an abysmal 32 percent for the game, they were able to pull away for the win.

The loss was a tough pill to swallow for the Aggies following their win Saturday at South Carolina State. The Aggies beat the Bulldogs 67-58 in senior forward Robert Johnson’s return from a shoulder injury after five games of inactivity.

He scored six points in his return and Alston led the Aggies i scoring with 17 points.

• Prince Askew