GREENSBORO, N.C. – Seventeen points Devin Haygood and a 16-4 run over the game's final 5:45 put North Carolina A&T over the top in a defensive battle against Longwood Wednesday evening at Corbett Sports Center.
 
With points hard to come by on both ends of the floor throughout the 40-minute slugfest, Haygood sparked North Carolina A&T's end-game rally with a go-ahead jumper that erased Longwood's 37-36 lead and sent the Aggies (3-6) into their most efficient offensive spurt of the night.
 
After shooting just .366 (14-of-41) from the floor through the first 34 minutes of the game against Longwood's Big South-leading defense, North Carolina A&T hit 5-of-8 shots during the game-winning run.
 
The Aggies' leading scorer Ronald Jackson and guard Kameron Langley broke the game open during that stretch with back-to-back three-point possessions. Jackson hit his first three-pointer of the night to extend the lead to 43-37 with 3:06 to play, and Langley followed with a three-point play on the next possession to keep the lead at two possessions.
 
North Carolina A&T's final rally punctuated a barnburner in which Longwood took a 27-24 lead into halftime and didn't trail until Andre Jackson's free throw put the Aggies up 36-35 with 6:24 to play. The 24 points were the fewest the Lancers have allowed to a Division I opponent in a half this season, trailing only the 22 Maryland Eastern Shore scored in the opening frame of an 85-55 Longwood win on Nov. 12.
 
However, North Carolina A&T flipped the tables in the second half and quieted the Lancer offense, holding Longwood without points on consecutive possessions for more than 18 minutes. After Longwood took the lead with an 8-0 run early in the first half, the Lancers were unable to string together more than three straight points after halftime in the face of a revived Aggie defense that held them to just 5-of-27 shooting from the floor after the break.
 
"We just have to get better every day. We take this game, we'll watch film, get better and compete tomorrow," said point guard Juan Munoz, who played a team-high 29 minutes. "That's the only thing we can do. Obviously this is a tough loss, but each game has a lesson so hopefully this one opens up our eyes to what we need to do."
 
Shabooty Phillips attempted to pull Longwood out of the slump and scored six of his 10 points after the Aggies took the lead in the final six minutes, including a long three-pointer that cut the deficit to 43-40 with 2:27 to play. However, North Carolina A&T responded with Langley's three-point play on the next possession and hit 4-of-6 free throws in the final 1:09 to stay on top.
 
Along with Phillips' team-high 10 points, Munoz contributed five points, five rebounds, five assists and a career-high four steals over a team-high 29 minutes on the floor. DeShaun Wade added seven points and six rebounds off the bench as Longwood's reserves continued to provide a significant scoring presence with 25 points.
 
"When we're at our best, we're one of the toughest teams in the Big South because we compete so hard, we play together and we're all for each other," Munoz said. "We don't have one selfish person on this team. Every day we look at each other and tell each other we're going to get better. That's what we're going to keep doing."
 
Now on the tail end of their six-game road swing, the Lancers will head to Baltimore, Md., this Saturday for a 2 p.m. tipoff against another MEAC foe in Morgan State. Longwood will then break for exam week before returning to action at Stetson on Sunday, Dec. 15 and making their return to Willett Hall on Dec. 19 against The Citadel.
 
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