Emmitsburg, Md. (November 21, 2018)--A strong second half lifted North Carolina A&T to a 74-60 win over Mount St. Mary's at Knott Arena on Wednesday evening.  Freshman Vado Morse paced the Mountaineers with 17 points while sophomore Jalen Gibbs added 15 in the loss.

The Mount (0-5) went on a 12-to-2 first-half run to take its biggest lead of the game, 26-20, with 3:48 left in the opening half.  Freshman Dee Barnes started the run with a lay-up, while Nana Opoku added the next six Mount points to give the Mount a 22-20 lead.  Morse and Gibbs closed the run with back-to-back buckets for a six-point lead.  The Aggies scored the next five points, but an Omar Habwe three-pointer gave the Mount a 29-25 advantage.  After a Qua Copeland three-pointer for NCA&T, Gibbs hit a pair of free throws to give the Mount a 31-28 lead at the break.

North Carolina A&T (1-5) opened the second half with a 22-to-7 run to take a 50-38 advantage with 12:12 left in the opening half.  Morse answered for the Mount with back-to-back three-pointers to cut the deficit to 50-44. An Ibrahim Sylla free throw pushed the Aggie advantage to seven, but the Mount's Malik Jefferson countered with a bucket in the paint to bring the Mountaineers within five.  A Gibbs jumper with 9:29 left in the second half cut the Mount's deficit to 54-48, but that would be the closest the Mount would be the remainder of the way.

Morse finished the game 6-for-11 from the field and 4-for-5 from three-point range for his team-high 17 points.  Gibbs added 15 points, seven rebounds and three assists while Opoku just missed a double-double with 11 points and nine boards.  Habwe added nine points and four rebounds in the game.  Copeland led NCA&T with 19 points while Sylla added 14 points and nine rebounds.

NCA&T shot 46.3 percent in the game while hitting 9-of-16 (.563) from three-point range.  The Aggies held a 34-to-31 edge on the boards and had 15 assists on 25 field goals.  The Mount shot 39.7 percent in the game and was 6-of-22 (.273) from beyond the arc.

The Mount is back in action on Sunday, November 25, at Morgan State.  Tip-off is set for 1:00 p.m.