news-record.com

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.— C.J. Reed's short jumper with 4 seconds to play lifted Bethune-Cookman over N.C. A&T 66-65 on Monday night.

The winning basket came after Dwane Joshua made a 3-pointer with 26 seconds left to give the Aggies their only lead during the final 11 minutes at 65-64.

The Wildcats (10-6, 3-0 MEAC), won their third straight and ninth in their last 12. The Aggies (5-11, 1-2) have lost six of seven and their last 13 games in Daytona.

"(Bethune-Cookman head coach) Cliff Reed got the ball to his best player,'' N.C. A&T head coach Jerry Eaves said. "He made a very tough shot. I thought Dwane Joshua was all over him."

Just seconds earlier, it appeared Joshua would be the hero. After two missed threes and two offensive rebounds by the Aggies, sophomore guard Nic Simpson drove the ball into the lane and dished it out to a wide open Joshua in the corner for a 3-pointer that gave the Aggies a 65-64 with 28.8 seconds remaining.

The Wildcats called timeout after Joshua's three, so Cliff Reed could call a play for center Albert Abrahams, who finished with 19 points on 9-for-10 shooting. But Reed said when he saw the Aggies were going to double him, he scrapped his previous plans and told Reed to penetrate to the basket.

"We wanted to make (C.J.) put it on the floor and hit a tough shot,'' said Eaves. "We were ready for them to drop into their big man because we saw him check into the game after the timeout. Again, he just hit an incredible shot."

N.C. A&T (5-11) — Smith 1-1 0-0 2, Buck 1-1 0-0 2, Powell 0-0 0-0 0, Alston 4-10 1-3 13, Joshua 4-14 3-4 15, Hill 2-4 1-2 7, Simpson 0-4 3-4 3, Coleman 3-5 4-6 10, Witter 1-3 0-0 3, Upchurch 1-1 0-0 2, Porter 3-3 2-2 8. Totals 20-46 14-21 65.

BETHUNE-COOKMAN (10-6) — Starling 2-4 5-8 9, Adams 0-2 1-2 1, Miller 2-4 2-4 6, Reed 6-18 1-4 15, Elliott 2-6 0-0 4, Thomas 3-4 0-0 8, Abrahams 9-10 1-2 19, Bryant 1-4 2-2 4, Anusionwu 0-0 0-0 0, Dukes 0-3 0-0 0, Williford 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-56 12-22 66.

Halftime—N.C. A&T 38-37.
3-point goals—N.C. A&T 11-26 (Alston 4-8, Joshua 4-8, Hill 2-4, Witter 1-3, Simpson 0-3), Bethune-Cookman 4-11 (Thomas 2-3, Reed 2-5, Elliott 0-1, Dukes 0-2).
Fouled out—Elliott.
Rebounds—N.C. A&T 28 (Coleman, Porter 6), Bethune-Cookman 34 (Starling 7).
Assists—N.C. A&T 10 (Alston 4), Bethune-Cookman 9 (Reed 3).
Total fouls—N.C. A&T 14, Bethune-Cookman 18.
A—898.