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GREENSBORO -- A relentless full-court press by N.C. A&T eventually wore down Maryland-Eastern Shore in an MEAC men's basketball game Saturday, leading to a 76-61 win at the Corbett Center.

The Aggies (7-10, 2-2 MEAC) employed the pressure throughout the game, but poor shooting and turnovers kept them from taking advantage in the first half. They trailed at the break by eight points, but still felt confident.

"Coach told us (at halftime) that we were going to win this game," said senior forward Ed Jones, who led all scorers with 17 points. "We came out with more intensity in the second half and we knew that would take away their legs. We just got after them a lot more and caused more turnovers."

A&T coach Jerry Eaves said there was no yelling at halftime. He just told his players to come out and be aggressive in the second half.

"I was glad to have the 30 points (at halftime)," Eaves said. "We've been in a scoring drought so that was encouraging. We could have had 20 points. But they stayed confident. Maryland-Eastern Shore played a tremendous first half, but I think it took a little bit out of them and they started missing their long shots."

Behind the shooting of Jones, the Aggies opened the second half with a 12-2 run and jumped out to a 42-40 lead. When the Hawks cut the deficit to 46-45, Nick Wilson hit three straight 3-pointers, including one in which he was fouled and completed a four-point play and suddenly the lead was 61-47.

"Nick was able to break the game open and Ed gave us some breathing room," Eaves said. "Everybody relaxed a little at that point. They just have a tremendous attitude. That is why I love this team."

Eaves said the play of Jones and Wilson are going to be crucial for the remainder of the season because they are seniors on a young team.

"It's just a maturing process," Eaves said. "We really only have Ed and Nick as senior leadership, but once we get some confidence we feel like that will lead to a road win."

Wilson knows it is up to him and Jones to set the tone.

"Coach tells us a lot that they (the other players) get comfortable when we start doing things," said Wilson, who scored 16 points.

The Aggies shot well early. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Dwane Joshua propelled them to a 10-7 lead. But A&T went cold for long stretches, allowing the Hawks to jump out to a 21-19 lead.

The Aggies employed a full-court press for the entire first half and at times it was effective in creating turnovers and forcing the tempo. But on many occasions the press allowed for wide-open shots by the Hawks, this was especially true in the closing minutes of the half.

After A&T cut the lead to 27-26 with 2:22 to play, the Aggies struggled to find their range again and Eastern Shore (3-10, 1-2) took advantage. The Hawks went on an 11-4 run to close out the first half, giving the visitors a 38-30 lead at the break.

The Aggies shot 33 percent in the first half, compared to Eastern Shore's 48 percent. A&T commited 13 first-half turnovers, and were fortunate to trail by only eight points heading into the second half.

MARYLAND-EASTERN SHORT (3-10, 1-2)

FG FT Reb

Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts

Mayes 33 5-11 1-2 3-8 2 4 12

Davis 32 2-10 1-1 0-1 4 1 6

Boyer 31 3-9 0-0 0-2 2 2 7

Pitt 35 6-14 4-10 3-7 0 4 16

Lee 27 1-5 3-7 2-5 1 4 5

Obetoh 16 2-3 4-12 2-4 0 1 9

Bright 19 1-2 0-1 0-4 1 2 3

Randall 2 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 0 0

Conner 5 1-1 0-0 1-3 0 0 3

Totals 200 21-55 13-33 12-37 10 18 61

Percentages: FG .382, FT .394.

3-point goals: 6-23, .261 (Obetoh 1-1, Bright 1-1, Conner 1-1, Davis 1-3, Boyer 1-5, Mayes 1-5, Lee 0-3, Pitt 0-4).

Team rebounds: 2.

Blocked shots: 3 (Mayes 2, Pitt).

Turnovers: 20 (Lee 5, Pitt 4, Bright 3, Mayes 3, Davis 2, Obetoh, Conner, Boyer).

Steals: 8 (Boyer 3, Bright 2, Davis, Pitt, Mayes).

Technical fouls: None.

N.C. A&T (7-10, 2-2)

FG FT Reb

Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts

Coleman 27 1-3 2-2 3-7 1 3 4

Johnson 21 3-6 0-0 1-7 2 4 7

McClurkin 18 1-3 2-2 2-4 0 1 4

Alston 26 6-12 0-0 0-1 4 2 12

Jones 26 7-13 1-2 0-4 2 3 17

Moorman 9 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 0 0

Joshua 18 4-8 2-3 1-5 0 1 12

Hill 13 1-3 2-2 0-0 3 1 4

Simpson 4 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 0

Shepherd 7 0-0 0-0 0-1 1 4 0

Williams 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Wilson 29 5-15 3-3 2-7 1 3 16

Totals 200 28-64 12-14 13-46 14 23 76

Percentages: FG .438, FT .857.

3-point goals: 8-21, .381 (Wilson 3-7, Joshua 2-4, Jones 2-6, Johnson 1-1, Simpson 0-1, Alston 0-1, Hill 0-1).

Team rebounds: 9.

Blocked shots: 4 (Coleman 4).

Turnovers: 24 (Alston 5, Joshua 4, Wilson 3, Coleman 3, Moorman 2, Johnson 2, Jones 2, Simpson, Hill).

Steals: 9 (Wilson 3, Shepherd, Hill, McClurkin, Joshua, Johnson, Jones).

Technical fouls: None.

Maryland-Eastern Shore 38 23 -- 61

N.C. A&T 30 46 -- 76

Officials--Robert James, Carl Blair, Brandon Williams.

A--2,010.