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CORAL GABLES, Fla.— Trailing 44-22 at halftime on Monday night, N.C. A&T had two options. The Aggies could have run for the bus and forgot it or looked inside themselves and found something to remember.

Coach Jerry Eaves' team took the latter approach and found the intensity to outscore the Hurricanes 37-36 despite losing the game 80-59 at the Bank United Center.

"I want my team to play aggressively, especially on the offensive end," Eaves said, "and we did in the second half. We outscored them, but the aggressiveness wasn't there for 40 minutes like it has to be.

"We knew Miami would score. Against the Dukes and Carolinas, they have to score to score in the 80s or 90s to have a chance. We told our kids that we would have to score the ball to stay with them."

Miami (12-1) dominated inside with advantages of 45-35 in rebounding, 32-16 in points in the paint and 12-2 in second-chance points.

"At halftime, we talked about being more aggressive on the boards," said guard Dwane Joshua whose 14 points led the Aggies. "We looked inside ourselves and knew the team that played in the first half wasn't us."

Miami sprinted to a 21-6 lead in the opening 10 minutes and never looked. They expanded the margin to 23-points, 39-13, on Adrian Thomas' 3-pointer with 2:51 left in the half.

The Aggies closed the half with three straight 3-pointers, a sign of things to come, and had the deficit under 20 points until Antoine Allen's 3-pointer at the buzzer gave the Hurricanes a 44-22 lead.

"We had a lot more intensity in the second half," said guard Tavarus Alston who finished with 13 points. "We shot the ball better, attacked the basket more and found our confidence."

The Aggies (4-7) opened the second half with a 20-8 run, sparked by Alston's seven points, as they reduced the deficit to 10 points, 52-42, on Marc Hill's 3-pointer with 12:58 left.

"They played hard and competed," Miami coach Frank Haith said. "They are a 3-point shooting team, and we knew it. Our defensive pressure wasn't what he had been in the first half. They relaxed and made some 3s.

"When you can shoot 3s, you have the ability to play yourself back into a game in a hurry."

Seven straight points by Miami's center Dwayne Collins, who finished with 13 points and five rebounds, helped the Hurricanes regain control 59-45 with 10:46 left.

Malcolm Grant scored 14 points to lead Miami. In addition to Grant and Collins scoring in double figures, Durand Scott finished with 13 points, while James Dews and Cyrus McGowan each scored 10 points.

The Aggies had one run left, cutting the margin to 59-48 on a Thomas Coleman follow with 10:03 remaining. Coleman's basket was A&T's third rebound of sequence.

"It was the kind of fight that we needed the entire game," Eaves said. "It is the way that we have to play to be a championship caliber team."

Hill's 3-pointer made it 63-51 with 8:16 left. At that point, the Aggies' shot selection went downhill and so did the deficit.

They were outscored 14-1 in the next 6:18 as the Hurricanes established the biggest lead of the game, 77-52, on two Grant free throws with 1:58 left.

"When you are playing on the road against opponents from a higher level," Eaves said, "you always go into the game with a strategy to win.

"For example, we led the last eight minutes against Lamar, but it got away from us at the end, they won on some free throws (74-73). We know the odds playing on the road against a Miami."

Those odds will not be much better at Tennessee on Wednesday night and at Tulane on Dec. 30 as the Aggies wrap up a series of money-making games before heading into the heart of MEAC schedule after Jan. 1.

"You look for positives inside a loss," Eaves said, "something to build on. We would like to duplicate the first 10 minutes of the second half."

Joshua agreed.

"If we had played the entire game like we did the first 10 minutes of the second half," he said, "it might have been interesting at the end."

N.C. A&T (4-7) — Upchurch 0-2 0-0 0, Johnson 3-8 0-0 8, Coleman 2-4 0-0 4, Alston 4-12 3-3 13, Simpson 3-8 0-0 8, Joshua 4-11 4-8 14, Hill 2-5 0-0 6, Williams 0-1 0-0 0, Witter 1-2 0-0 3, Porter 1-2 1-3 3. Totals 20-55 8-14 59.

MIAMI (12-1) — McGowan 4-5 0-1 10, Collins 6-9 1-4 13, Scott 5-9 2-3 13, Grant 5-9 2-2 14, Dews 4-14 0-0 10, Allen 2-7 0-0 6, Adams 0-4 1-2 1, Thomas 2-5 0-0 6, Johnson 1-4 3-3 5, Gamble 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 30-68 9-15 80.

Halftime—Miami 44-22.
3-point goals—N.C. A&T 11-34 (Johnson 2-5, Hill 2-5, Alston 2-7, Simpson 2-7, Joshua 2-8, Witter 1-2), Miami 11-30 (McGowan 2-2, Thomas 2-5, Grant 2-5, Allen 2-6, Dews 2-8, Scott 1-2, Adams 0-2).
Fouled out—None. Rebounds—N.C. A&T 35 (Coleman 7), Miami 45 (Collins 9).
Assists—N.C. A&T 11 (Joshua 3), Miami 19 (Grant 5).
Total fouls—N.C. A&T 15, Miami 12.
A—3,143.