Wesley’s 24 Not Enough, Eagles Fall to North Carolina A&T 81-74

GREENSBORO, N.C. — The Carson-Newman men’s basketball team was unable to overcome a second-half rally by North Carolina A&T, as the Eagles dropped an 81-74 decision to the Division I Aggies on Tuesday night at Corbett Sports Center.

C-N held a five-point lead midway through the second half before North Carolina A&T went on a 19-4 run and held on for the win.

With the loss, C-N falls to 6-6 on the season, while North Carolina A&T improves to 5-9.

The second half was the difference, as the Aggies shot 66.7 percent (16-of-24) during the final 20 minutes, while the Eagles shot just 37.5 percent (12-of-32).

Junior guard J.J. Wesley (Mobile, Ala.) tallied 24 points to lead the Eagles. Wesley was 8-of-14 from the floor, including 6-for-9 from behind the arc.

Sophomore forward Quinche Dowdell (Oak Ridge, Tenn.) tossed in 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Eagles, while senior guard Jordan Dixon (Clinton, Tenn.) added nine points and four steals in the loss.

Dwane Joshua tallied a game-high 31 points, including five 3-pointers, and pulled down 10 rebounds to pace the Aggies. Nic Simpson and Tavarus Alston tossed in 17 and 16 points, respectively, in the win.

North Carolina A&T held a 24-15 lead at the 9:03 mark of the first half, but he Eagles battled back and outscored the Aggies 25-13 to close out the half. Junior guard Erwin Staten’s (Huntsville, Ala.) layup with 26 seconds remaining gave C-N a 40-37 advantage at the break.

The Aggies opened the second half on a 9-4 run to take a 46-44 lead. However, C-N responded as Wesley drained a 3-pointer to push the Eagles back in front.

C-N held a 59-54 lead with 11:07 left in the contest, but the Aggies outscored the Eagles 27-15 the rest of the way to pick up the win.

The Eagles return to the court on Saturday in a South Atlantic Conference matchup at Mars Hill. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. at Stanford Arena in Mars Hill, N.C.