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North Carolina A&T 68, Morgan State 67 (OT)
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Feb 2022
North Carolina A&T got the go-ahead basket from guard Richard Pauk with five seconds left to knock off Morgan State 68-67 in overtime on Saturday night and send the Bears to their first loss in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
The Aggies (7-13, 3-2 MEAC) trailed 11-2 early in the game but got back into it quickly and trailed just 33-29 at halftime. Both teams squandered opportunities late in regulation and were deadlocked at 59 heading into overtime.
The Bears (6-11, 4-1) entered with the highest-scoring offense in the league at 81.8 points per game but were held in check by the Aggies’ defense. Morgan State shot just 31.9 percent from the field and went 7 of 28 from 3-point range.
Moreover, a familiar problem plagued the Bears as well. Morgan State, which entered the weekend ranked last in the league in free throw shooting at 64.1 percent, missed 10 of its 24 foul shots.
North Carolina State A&T guard Lamont Middleton led all scorers with 26 points and Pauk added 25.
The Aggies won despite being outrebounded 50-43 and giving up 22 offensive boards, in part because it went to the free throw line 37 times and made 29.
Guard Justin Black led Morgan State with 19 points. Center Ian Chiles finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
