GREENSBORO, N.C.- With the scored tied at 55 with 3:11 remaining, North Carolina A&T scored the next five points and held on to defeat Savannah State 63-58 in a game played at the Corbett Sports Center.
The score was tied at 45 apiece but Savannah State received a layup from
Zaquavian Smith and a 3-pointer by
Romani Hansen to take a 50-45 edge with 6:22 remaining.
SSU's lead held up until Amari Hamilton drilled a 3-pointer for A&T with 3:45 left. The Tigers went back ahead by one on a
Zach Sellers jumper before Hamilton hit a free throw to tie the game at 55.
The loss drops the Tigers to 10-18 overall and 7-7 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
Hansen had 17 points and seven rebounds for Savannah State. Smith came off the bench to score 16 while Sellers added 15 points, five rebounds and three assists.
The crowd of 1,904 saw a game that had eight ties and 11 lead changes.
Back to back 3-pointers by Hamilton and Andre Jackson gave the Aggies a 11-5 lead but Savannah State rallied to trim their deficit to 23-22 with 1:38 left.
A&T led 25-22 at the intermission.
The first 11 minutes of the second half had four ties. The contest was tied at 29 with 17:13 left, at 31 with 16:04 left, at 39 with 10:27 remaining and and at 43 at the nine minute mark
Savannah State ended the game shooting 34.5 percent from the floor, 31.3 percent from beyond the arc and 61.5 percent from the charity stripe.
Hamilton came off the bench to pace A&T with 16 points.
The Aggies (16-12, 11-3 MEAC) shot 39 percent from he floor, made19 percent of their 3-point attempts and went 13 of 19 from the free throw line.
TIP INS:
*
Zach Sellers extended his streak of scoring at least two points in a game to 59 games
* After being held to 12 points in his past three games,
Zaquavian Smith scored 16 points against A&T
* This was the first time the Aggies defeated SSU since January 30, 2016
* The Tigers lead the nation in 3-point attempts with 1,087
*
Jaquan Dotson was held to five points. Dotson scored 43 points in his previous two outings
