Junior forward Adrian Powell hit a game winning three-pointer in
an intense overtime thriller to defeat the Eagles of Coppin State
93-92.
Junior forward Adrian Powell hit a game winning three-pointer in an intense overtime thriller to defeat the Eagles of Coppin State 93-92.
After defeating the Morgan State Bears 62-61 just two days before, N.C. A&T traveled back to Baltimore Monday night, to take on the Coppin State Eagles looking for its third consecutive road win that was televised on ESPNU.
What looked like an easy shut out victory for the Aggies, who were up by 20 in the first half, turned into an intense, gut wrenching, stomach turning, nail-biting ball game.
The Aggies got off to a quick start with a 18-2 lead in just eight minutes of play.
Coppin State couldn’t handle the tenacious A&T lockdown man defense that forced turnovers in the first half.
A&T also couldn’t be stopped on the offensive side from 3-point land.
Before Monday night, the Aggies averaged seven 3-pointers a game. A&T hit nine shots from behind the arc in just the first half alone.
Nic Simpson, who hasn’t started in the past few games, hit 5 of those and ended the night with 22 points.
But with 5.8 seconds left in the half, senior point guard Tony Gallo knocked down a desperation three sending the Eagles into halftime with a tad bit of momentum despite trailing A&T 44-27.
This was the Eagles first time this season losing at the half.
Coppin State came out at after halftime with a Michael Harper dunk to give the Eagles a spark of life off an Aggie turnover.
Through the first eight minutes of the second half, the two teams traded baskets but the Aggies remained in a comfortable lead.
It wasn’t until later on that the Eagles crept back as Gallo’s steal turned into a fast break as he laid the ball in for the easy two points tying the score for the first time in the game at 67.
Later on Akeem Ellis’s three-point shot put the Eagles in the lead 70-69 for the first time in the game with 6:35 left in the half.
Down the stretch, Coppin State led 81-79 when Powell found Simpson who wiggled his way through a host of Eagle defenders on a back door cut to put in a reverse lay up to send the game into overtime.
In overtime with less than a minute to go with game tied at 90, this time it was Gallo found his way to the paint to shoot a contested floater over two Aggie defenders to put Coppin State up 92-90.
A&T’s Marc Hill then pushed the ball up the court to find a wide open Powell with 33.1 seconds to go in overtime, who instead of taking the ball to the hole to tie the game, confidently hit the three to put the Aggies up to win the game 93-92.
Both teams knocked down a season high of 15 three-pointers.
Powell, dangerously close to a double-double, put up 15 points, hauled in nine rebounds, and had three steals. Hill added 20 points five assists and two steals.
Harper led all scorers with 30 points and Gallo added 22 points and dished out seven assists.
The A&T victory marked just the second time in 16 seasons that the Aggies defeated Coppin State on the road.
“I mean they shot the lights out,” said A&T head coach Jerry Eaves in an A&T press release. “Neither team let up. There was some super shots made in that gym tonight. It was just one gorgeous basketball game. It was played at a high quality. ESPNU got their money’s worth on this one.”
The Aggies will get a well deserved four day rest until its next game in which they will host the UM-Eastern Shore Hawks, Sat. Jan. 28 in Corbett Sports Center at 4 p.m.
N. C. A&T (4-2, 9-12)
Smith 5, Powell 15, Hill 20, Simpson 22, Underwood 4, Louisme 0, Buck 1, Estes 4, Witter 9, Siverand 7
COPPIN STATE (4-3, 9-11)
Murray 9, Weins 0, Williams 12, Harper 30, Cephas 0, Gallo 22, Simpson 0, Ellis 16, Johnson 3, St. Louis 0
N.C. A&T………………44 37 12-93
COPPIN STATE……..27 54 11-92
3-point goals: A&T — Simpson 5, Hill 4, Powell 3, Williams 2, Witter.
Coppin State — Harper 6, Ellis 4, Gallo 3, Murray.
[email protected] and follow her on Twitter @KayRob_
- Karmen Robinson, Sports Editor