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Old 02-17-2009, 10:52 PM   #143
Radii
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
February 15, 2010

NC A&T (11-12, 7-5 MEAC) at Morgan State(8-14, 6-6 MEAC)

Our first game against Morgan State was an absolute heartbreaker. We trailed by 15 at half, came charging back in the 2nd half and took a 1 point lead with 15 seconds to go. Just needing to play good defense for 15seconds, Ewing committed a reach in foul against their best player, who made two free throws with 5 seconds left. We lost 81-80.

These guys have two good scorers. SF Ameer Ali scored 22,and SG Reggie Holmes scored 23. Holmes is a big time 3 point threat. We got a lot of points in transition and hope to do the same thing here.

Half
Time
NC A&T
MSU
Notes
1
15:45
14
9
Frenzied pace early. Ewing and Alston are flying up and down the court. Its going to be their shooters vs our transition game, even more than usual today. The last time we played these guys we managed 29 first half points. I suspect we will top that today.
1
11:45
24
22
They go on a bit of a run themselves and only trail by 2 as the backups come in.
1
9:10
27
27
We burn a time out as they've scored 5 straight to tie it up. Works and Shiloh are just not the same as Alston and Ewing, despite the speed. Of course I knew that already, its just amazing how big the difference is sometimes.
1
6:25
32
37
They are on fire vs the backups. Their #2 scorer, Ali, not supposed to be a big 3 point threat, is 2-4 and they're shooting quite well. Starters are back in.

HALF
48
50
Crazy, crazy half. They are 5-12 from 3 and shooting 50% overall. We're also shooting 50%.


Ali is just killing us. He has 18 points, 7-11 shooting(3-5 from 3). Holmes, their bigger threat, only has 11points. This is likely due to me shading over on Holmes,leaving Ali open more often.


Ewing is keeping up though, hehas 16, including 2-5 from 3. Coleman has 9 points/8 boards.


Stat of the gamethough: Morgon State -14 second chance points. Rebound guys!! We actually have a nice rebound edge, but they have 8 offensive boards and 14 second chance points that is killing us.
2
15:55
64
56
We open the half on a very quick 16-6 run. They don't have any offensive boards yet. Ali has all 6 of their points, no one else is hitting a thing.
2
14:00
70
59
3 more from Ali for them, but 6 more for us. Another Morgan State time out. We're hoping to build as big a lead as possible before the backups come in.
2
11:10
78
66
I'll take a 12 point lead for the backups to hang on to. Note to backups: Run lots and lots of clock.
2
6:00
78
70
Nice job burning clock, backups. It was still 78-66 at the 7 minute mark. Morgan State scored on its last two possessions to cut it to 8. Starters are back in.
2
3:15
80
77
We've been committing fouls like crazy, and aside from one Ewing layup, doing nothing on offense. They're on an 11-2 run in the last 8 minutes now. We just burned a time out to quiet their crowd after a steal and layup cut it to 3.
2
1:45
84
82
I get Coleman a good look inside after the timeout. They get a Holmes 3. I get Ewing a layup our next time down. They get a Holmes 2. We lead by 2 with the ball.
2
1:20
84
82
I get Coleman another good look inside but he can't hit this one. He does commit a foul going after the rebound. Its our 7th and they are shooting free throws. They miss the 1st one and we rebound!


The final 1:20 is a bit nerve wracking. We get Ewing a really good mid-range look that he misses, a 18 footer he almost never misses when open. They take their time and get Holmes a midrange look, but Hayes is out helping and blocks it. We get the ball with 45 seconds to go. I run a play out of the motion offense that takes a good bit of time to develop. With 5 seconds left on the shot clock, Hayes gets the ball inside, covered but he's got to shoot... its blocked. Coleman picks it up and puts it up with 2 seconds left on the shot clock. It's blocked as well. They grab the ball before the shot clock expires and push it up court with ~10 seconds left. Alston is tight on Nance, their PG, and Ewing is on Holmes. Nance holds the ball until the 4 second mark, he passes to Holmes, who goes up with Ewing right in his face for a 3 pointer. The shot hits the front iron and is NO GOOD! Time expires before any sort of rebound.

NC A&T 84
Morgan State 82

Our two games with Morgan State have both been decided on the final possession, each team with a shot at the buzzer to win the game. 81-80 and 84-82. I think its safe to say that I do NOT want to see this team in the MEAC tournament.

We end up with a big edge on the boards, 40-29. They only got 2 offensive boards in the 2nd half.

For Morgan State, Ali has 27, Holmes has 20. They are a combined 6-16 from 3, 20-45 overall.

Alston: 18 points/4 assists
Ewing: 30 points/6 assists
Johnson: 6 points/7 boards
Coleman: 15 points/9 boards
Hayes: 7 points/11 boards

Only 8 points total from the bench. WHEW.
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