NC A&T Beats Morgan St. 57-54

By HANK KURZ Jr.
AP Sports Writer

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) -- Adrian Powell scored 14 points, including two critical free throws with 23.4 seconds to play, and then blocked a potential tying 3-pointer in the final seconds Saturday as North Carolina A&T beat Morgan State 57-54 to win its first Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament title since 1995.

Lamont Middleton added 13 points, all in the second half, as the seventh-seeded Aggies (19-16) came through with a clutch performance one day after clinching their first winning season in 15 years.

DeWayne Jackson led Morgan State (17-15) with 20 points, but had his 3-point try swatted away by Powell with a few seconds to play, and then missed a contested try again at the buzzer, sending the cheerleeaders and some fans from North Carolina A&T streaming onto the court in a brief celebration.

The loss was the first in nine games for Morgan State, which missed 12 of 20 free throws.

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