February 12, 2011

Greensboro, NC-February 12---Kyle Riley scored a team-high 14 points and Anton Dickerson added all of 13 in the second half, but it was not enough to overcome the production of the North Carolina A&T bench, which accounted for 24 points as Howard fell, 68-49 to the Aggies in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference men's game at Corbett Sports Center.

The Bison (5-19 overall, 3-8 in the MEAC) were able to stay within striking distance through most of the first half.  Riley and Mike Phillips combined for 18 of their team's points, but the team was unable to match the scoring of MEAC Player of the Year candidate Thomas Coleman, who led all scorers with 11 points on 5 of 6 shooting from the field and seven rebounds.

The Aggies (11-14 overall, 6-5 in the MEAC) extended their halftime lead of 41-34 to 14 over the first five minutes but Dickerson, fueled a Bison rally by scoring his team's first 11 points of the second half to cut the deficit to six.

It proved to short lived as NC A&T continued to go to its bench early and often in an attempt to wear down the undermanned Bison.  Reserves DaMetrius Upchurch (10 points), Austin Witter (7 points) combined to give the Aggies their biggest lead of the game at 19.  The weary Bison, who went over 6 minutes without scoring at one point, had no answer as the Aggies pulled away.

North Carolina A&T shot 51 percent from the floor, held a whopping 44-14 advantage in the paint, and outscored the Bison bench, 24-2.  Four of the five Howard starters played more than 34 minutes.  The Aggies, meanwhile, played 12 players.

Phillips contributed 11 points and six rebounds in a losing cause while Dadrian Collins tallied nine.

Coleman finished with a double-double of 19 points and 12 rebounds, Adrian Powell added 12 and Upchurch chipped in with 10 points and seven rebounds off the bench.

NEXT UP: The Bison will travel to Norfolk, VA to take on the Spartans of Norfolk State on Monday at 8 pm while the Aggies will host Hampton University on Monday at 7 pm on ESPNU.