A&T can’t shake off ECU’s tough loss to Pirates

GREENVILLE, North Carolina – Friday was a blip for North Carolina A&T men’s basketball seven games into the 2024-25 season. The Aggies have been competitive in every game this season, proving they can score with the best in basketball and going tough on defense in crucial moments.

None of that happened Friday at East Carolina University (ECU) Minges Coliseum as the ECU Pirates defeated A&T 93-69. It was the Aggies’ worst loss of the season as the Pirates shot 52.4 percent for the game, including 56.3 percent in the first half, to improve to 7-1.

Meanwhile, the Aggies failed to score 80 points for the first time in four games and shot 38.8 percent, falling to 3-4 on the season.

“When you play against such a strong, athletic and experienced team, you have to put a lot of emphasis on playing together and moving the basketball forward,” said A&T head coach Monté Ross. “That’s what we didn’t do a great job of tonight, just moving the basketball and moving the defense before attacking. We tried to attack before we got the movement.”

Despite ECU’s sharp shooting, the Aggies stayed close to the Pirates in the first half. After falling behind 26-12 in the first 11 minutes of the game, the Aggies outscored the Pirates 16-7 over the next five minutes Ryan Forrest 3-pointers cut the Pirates’ lead to 33-28 with 3:44 remaining in the first half.

However, the Pirates ended the half with an 11-5 run that included a three-pointer by RJ Felton at the buzzer that sent the Pirates into the locker room down 44-33 at halftime.

“It was their athleticism and strength that got us in and out of some things,” Ross said.

A&T got within 47-39 in the first two minutes of the second half Landon Glasper 3-pointer. The Pirates scored the next four points before the Aggies reached the free throw line for the first time at 23½ minutes. Forrest made one of two free throws, making the game 51-40 in ECU’s favor.

ECU responded as Felton drove to the basket and scored, apparently using his off-arm to do so. That led to a technical foul on the Aggies’ bench, giving the Pirates two free throws. Cam Hayes shot both of Tech’s free throws and CJ Walker made two more free throws after the media timeout to give ECU a 57-40 lead.

The Aggies never recovered. The Pirates led by 33 points before the end of the game. Walker led ECU with 23 points on 9-for-13 shooting.

Forrest scored 25 points on 8-for-10 shooting from the foul line. Glasper had 16 points, six rebounds and five assists. Nikolaos Chitikoudis had eight points and nine rebounds. The Aggies will enter Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) play for a brief moment as they travel to Hampton, Virginia to face traditional HBCU rival Hampton at the Convocation Center on Tuesday, December 3rd at 7 p.m to compete.

“We’ve been playing for seven games and this was the first time this season that we got hit in the mouth and kind of splintered. We didn’t stay together like we needed to,” Ross said. “I have to do a better job of making sure we get there. We are okay when things are going well. But we were hit with some adversity tonight and I didn’t like the way we responded.”