NICEVILLE, FLA. – Guard Marcus Watson scored a career-high 28 points to key North Carolina A&T to a 73-67 victory past St. Francis Brooklyn in the final round of the Emerald Coast Classic at Raider Arena on the campus of Northwest Florida State College.
Watson scored the Aggie’s last six points of the game including a banked-in three-point basket with 57 seconds left.
Watson, who grabbed eight rebounds, surpassed his previous career high of 22 points Friday against Samford.
“I had a conversation with Marcus Watson last night and told him that he is more than just a three-point shooter,” said North Carolina A&T head coach Will Jones. “He can do more than just shoot threes. He can rebound, he can contend rebounds, and he can score at the rim. He was a real force on the floor today and I’m proud of him.”
The Aggies, behind a game-high nine rebounds from guard David Beatty, outrebounded St. Francis Brooklyn 35-28, scoring 18 second-chance points.
“I thought our team responded after the tough loss yesterday,” added Jones. “The key to this game was rebounding. We had guards with nine, eight and six rebounds. But, we have to continue to learn how to win down the stretch.”
Guard Demetric Horton added 18 points for North Carolina A&T which improved to 2-6.
Forward Patrick Emilien led St. Francis Brooklyn (0-6) with 14 points and six rebounds, while guard Michael Cubbage scored 11 points.
Jeremy Robinson came off the bench to score nine points fueling a 13-4 run during a five-minute stretch late in the first half which staked North Carolina A&T to a 34-27 advantage. The Aggies would go on to enjoy a 39-32 halftime lead.
St. Francis Brooklyn stormed back from a 58-43 deficit with a 16-5 run, including 10 straight points to cut it to the led to 63-59 following a basket by Cubbage with 5:33 remaining.
North Carolina A&T guard Kameron Langley, who set a tournament record with 15 assists against Samford Friday, dished out a game-high five assists against St. Francis Brooklyn.
