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GREENSBORO -- The Aggies rallied in the second half for a 92-85 win over South Carolina State to move into second place in the MEAC Monday night.

N.C. A&T trailed by four at halftime. With the game tied with 13:30 remaining, the Aggies went on a 13-0 run with six different players scoring to break open the game.

"We just want to stay after people," A&T coach Jerry Eaves said. "Our press gives up points in the first half, it really does. We were a little sluggish but we were just of a mind set that if we stay after people, eventually they'll hit the wall playing at that pace.

"We were able to get a few quick steals, Tavarus (Alston) got one, we were able to lay it in and make our run. That 4-minute stretch was the key to the game."

Five players scored in double figures for the Aggies (15-13, 8-5 MEAC), led by Ed Jones who scored a game-high 25 points.

"I've been in a little bit of a slump with my shot," Jones said. "I went into the gym last night and I put some shots up. I had some things I had to tweak with my shot. I wasn't comfortable with it. I knew I had something to work on. So I came in last night, got some work done and it paid off today."

Jones scored the first seven points of the game. While the rest of A&T struggled, Jones kept the game close, as he finished the first 20 minutes with 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting. The rest of the Aggies shot 7-for-29 in the first half.

"Ed Jones did a good job keeping us in the game," Eaves said. "Without his 15 points in the first half, we would have had like 10 points."

In the second half, the Aggies came out with a different game plan and it paid off immediately.

"In the second half, we were 5-9 from the 3-point line," Eaves said. "We had shot 22 threes in the first half. I told my team that was the kiss of death. There's no way we could win shooting the ball from the perimeter."

With an emphasis on driving to the basket, the Aggies shot 71.4 percent in the second half.

Alston had 11 of his 17 points after intermission and he also chipped in with a game-high six assists.

A&T continued to push the pace, and just as Eaves predicted, it affected the Bulldogs' big men. Josh Jackson, the 6-foot-8, 265-pound center, had 12 points in the first half but none in the second.

Jason Johnson, the 6-7 forward who gave the Aggies such trouble in the first game, finished with 20 points but was on the bench in the final minutes.

It was the seventh straight win for A&T, which avenged a 71-53 loss this season to South Carolina State (13-13, 8-6).

"We've split with them this year, and I'm very happy to do that," Eaves said.

SOUTH CAROLINA STATE (13-13, 8-6)

FG FT Reb

Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS

Burton 32 0-5 3-3 2-2 6 5 3

Jackson 21 5-8 2-4 2-5 1 3 12

JWilliams 27 2-5 0-0 1-8 1 4 5

Flagler 34 9-16 2-3 1-5 1 2 22

Telfare 28 4-12 0-0 1-7 2 1 12

JJohnson 24 7-9 6-8 4-8 0 1 20

KJohnson 10 0-1 0-0 0-2 0 3 0

Bennett 24 3-12 4-4 1-1 1 4 11

Totals 200 30-68 17-22 15-45 12 23 85

Percentages: FG .441, FT .773.

3-point goals: 8-25, .320 (Telfare 4-10, Flagler 2-3, J.Williams 1-2, Bennett 1-5, K.Johnson 0-1, Burton 0-4).

Team Rebounds: 7.

Blocked Shots: 2 (J.Johnson 2).

Turnovers: 21 (Jackson 5, Burton 4, J.Williams 4, J.Johnson 3, Telfare 2, Flagler 2, K.Johnson).

Steals: 7 (Jackson 2, Telfare 2, J.Williams, K.Johnson, Burton).

N.C. A&T (15-13, 8-5)

FG FT Reb

Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS

McClurkin 15 1-2 0-0 2-3 1 3 2

Jones 23 8-12 5-10 2-3 1 2 25

Webster 3 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 0 0

Alston 28 5-9 5-8 0-3 6 1 17

Wilson 27 5-13 0-0 2-4 1 3 11

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

Joshua 15 2-5 0-0 0-4 2 0 5

Hill 15 1-5 0-3 0-0 2 2 3

Simpson 3 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Shepherd 17 0-3 0-0 1-3 0 4 0

Coleman 27 6-6 1-3 1-3 1 5 13

Johnson 26 5-9 5-5 0-4 2 1 16

Totals 200 33-66 16-29 10-35 16 21 92

Percentages: FG .500, FT .552.

3-point goals: 10-31, .323 (Jones 4-8, Alston 2-4, Hill 1-3, Johnson 1-3, Joshua 1-4, Wilson 1-7, Simpson 0-1, Shepherd 0-1).

Team rebounds: 7.

Blocked shots: 4 (Coleman 3, McClurkin).

Turnovers: 12 (Coleman 3, Alston 2, Jones 2, Joshua 2, Wilson, Hill, Johnson).

Steals: 10 (Jones 3, Alston 2, Joshua, McClurkin, Johnson, Wilson, Shepherd).

South Carolina State 38 47 -- 85

N.C. A&T 34 58 -- 92

A--2,402. Officials--Everette Summers, William Covington, Gerrica Shannec.