North Carolina A&T 57, Morgan State 54: Adrian Powell scored 14 points as the seventh-seeded Aggies won the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship in Norfolk, Va., advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1995.
Lamont Middleton added 13 points for North Carolina A&T (19-16) while Austin Witter pitched in 11 points and nine rebounds. The Aggies were playing in their first MEAC championship game in 16 years.
Dewayne Jackson led Morgan State (17-15) with 20 points and seven rebounds, but missed two potential game-tying 3-pointers in the final nine seconds. Anthony Hubbard added 10 and seven for the Bears, who were 4-for-14 from beyond the arc and 8-for-20 at the foul line.
After entering halftime tied at 28, neither team led by more than four until a 5-0 Aggies spurt gave them a 51-45 lead with 6:44 to go. Hubbard's layup cut the deficit to 53-51 with four minutes left and Blake Bozeman's 3-pointer pulled the Bears within 55-54 with 1:31 left before two Powell free throws pushed the Aggies' cushion back to 57-54 with 23 seconds left.
Powell blocked Jackson’s first 3-point try from the right wing with nine seconds left, but North Carolina A&T’s Jeremy Underwood missed two free throws to give Morgan State one more chance. Jackson double-clutched and missed again from the same spot on the floor with one second left.
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Adrian Powell 14 | Scoring | DeWayne Jackson 20 |
Jeremy Underwood 3 | Assists | Blake Bozeman 3 |
Austin Witter 9 | Rebounds | Justin Black 7 |
Lamont Middleton 2 | Free Throws Made | DeWayne Jackson 4 |
Adrian Powell 3 | Steals | Justin Black 1 |
Austin Witter 5 | Blocks | Shaquille Duncan 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
No.Carolina A&T | 57 | 44.2 | 3-14 | 8-17 | 9 | 31 | 7 | 6 | 15 |
Morgan St. | 54 | 34.4 | 4-14 | 8-20 | 6 | 38 | 5 | 1 | 14 |