A year ago it was Howard’s James Daniel who hit the go-ahead three with two minutes remaining to down the Aggies. This year’s culprit was S.C. State guard Edward Stephens. His shot at the shot-clock buzzer with 1:33 remaining helped the Bulldogs eliminate the Aggies 63-54 at the Norfolk Scope Arena on Tuesday.

A&T sees its season come to an end for the second straight season at 9-23. Bruce Beckford led the way with 17 points and eight rebounds. Austin Williams added 11 off the bench.

“What can you say?” Alexander said of Stephens’ shot. “You don’t want to call it luck, but when a guy makes that kind of shot with the shot clock running down, it’s almost like it’s not meant to be. It’s almost like a replay of last year’s tournament game against Howard.”

Stephens’ shot was a demoralizing one because the Aggies were in the midst of pulling off an incredible comeback. A&T trailed by as many as 19 in the second half before freshman point guard Austin Williams hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer in the first half to send the Aggies into the locker room trailing 37-21 at halftime.

Williams, who had seen his minutes diminished after starting a good portion of games in November and December, continued to be the accelerant for the Aggies resurgence. His tip-in cut the Bulldogs’ lead to 43-35 with 12:36 remaining in the game. Three minutes later he took a swing pass from Khary Doby and netted a wide-open three to cut the lead to five, 47-42. Williams’ two 3-pointers Tuesday night matched the number of 3-pointers he had made all season coming into the game. In fact, his 3-pointer to end the half was his first made three since Nov. 28 against Radford.

“The further we got down, the more I knew that we needed to get more speed and more pressure,” Alexander said about playing Williams. “Austin is the quickest guy that we have in the back court. I thought he played with a valiant effort.”

Williams put in another put back with 6:10 remaining to cut S.C. State’s lead to 49-48. After a Gabe McCray layup put the Bulldogs ahead three, the two teams exchanged a made free throw, giving the Aggies the ball back with a chance to tie the game. The possession didn’t look promising until Ahmad Abdullah launched a three as the shot clock expired to tie the game at 52 with 3:43 remaining.

A&T never claimed the lead all night as three consecutive SCSU free throws put the Bulldogs ahead three. Doby then drove down the middle of the lane to make 55-54 with 2:13 to play. A&T clamped down defensively on the Bulldogs’ next offensive possession. The defense was so good, the Bulldogs looked in panic.

As the shot clock ticked down toward zero, Stephens took a pass from Jalen White, tried to dribble away from the defense before deciding to just launch up a desperation shot with the clock going down. It went through the net, giving S.C. State a 58-54 lead.

After Doby missed the front end of a one-and-one, White hit two free throws to seal the game. White and Stephens had 16 points apiece.