RALEIGH –The Alabama A&M men’s basketball team fell 81-52 to the North Carolina State University Wolfpack in front of 9,529 at the RBC Center Tuesday afternoon.
The first half is where all the trouble would be for the Maroon & White as NC State’s defense held A&M to 23.5% shooting on 8-of-34 from the field including an 0-of-10 mark from three-point range. The Wolfpack, however, shot 15-of 29, a 51.7% clip.
“Our shooting in the first half really hurt us,” head coach Vann Pettaway mentioned in his post-game radio interview.
NC State accomplish a feat that hasn’t happened since A&M faced Alabama State in the 2010 SWAC tournament second-round when the Hornets held the Bulldogs without a three-pointer 0-for-12. This time around A&M finished 0-for-15 for the game.
The second half saw the Bulldogs shoot 13-of-32 from the field but the Wolfpack went 14-of-22 to record a Maroon & White opponent season best 63.6 percent.
NC State finished the contest topping all Bulldog opponents this season shooting 56.9% from the field and 81.8 percent from the charity strife.
Leading the way for A&M was Casey Cantey with 14 points and five rebounds. Joining him in double figures was Demarquelle Tabb with 12 and seven boards.
Scott Wood led the Wolfpack with 18 points.
The Bulldogs fall to 3-6 on the year after a nine game non-conference schedule that saw the Bulldogs average 61.9 points per game off of 37 percent shooting.
Next up for Alabama A&M is the Southwestern Athletic Conference season. Their first opponent is the Grambling State University Tigers. The last time these two clubs met the Bulldogs ousted Grambling in the first-round of the 2010 SWAC tournament. Game time is set for 7:30 pm on Tuesday, January 4th in Elmore Gymnasium.
