NORFOLK, Va. — Adrian Powell scored 14 points, including two critical free throws with 23.4 seconds to play, 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, 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.

The game was close throughout the second half, and an 8-3 run by the Aggies gave them a 51-45 lead with 6:44 to play. Austin Witter, who scored 11, banked in a shot from just inside the 3-point line to start the run and finished it with a free throw, giving the Aggies their biggest lead of the half.

Associated Press

Division II Tournament

Slippery Rock 69, Winston-Salem State 67: The Rock recorded its first tournament win against the second-seeded Rams in the Atlantic Regional hosted by West Liberty University.

Devin Taylor had 27 points and 15 rebounds to lead sixth-seeded Slippery Rock (23-8).

Joe Thompson had 19 points and 11 rebounds for the Rams (21-7).

USC Aiken 94, Belmont Abbey 76: Re’mon Nelson finished with 24 points for the top-seededPacers (23-7) in the Southeast Regional in Aiken, S.C.

There were seven ties and 10 lead changes in the first half, but the Pacers pulled away in the second behind a 55.6 percent shooting performance.

Tyshawn Good had a game-high 26 points for Belmont Abbey (22-10).