TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- The Florida A&M Men’s Basketball team extended their home-court winning streak to four with a 63-60 win over North Carolina Central, here Saturday night at the Al Lawson Center.
With the win, it gives FAMU their second ever win against NCCU as the Eagles came into today’s contest leading the series 5-1.
Head coach Clemon Johnson was pleased with the way the Rattlers carried themselves in the clutch.
FAMU vs NCCU Gallery
"This should help get the fans in because they now believe we can play basketball. This was considered one of the toughest teams in the conference. They were voted to be No.3, but right now they were probably the best team, but fortunately the Rattlers have taken that spot for today," Johnson said.
A dunk by Jordan Parks would give NCCU a 58-44 lead with 10:37 to go in the game.
The Rattlers would then erase a 14 point lead with an 18-2 run, capped off by a Jamie Adams three pointer with 22 seconds left in the game, giving FAMU a 62-60 lead, the Rattlers' first lead of the of the game.
Reggie Lewis would then nail a free throw with three seconds left in the game, giving the Rattlers the 63-60 win.
Seniors Adams and Lewis were key to closing out the game. "Coach told me he brought me here to finish the games, so I didn’t want to miss that one. It was a great play by Reggie Lewis. He drew two guys and kicked it out and I was wide open," Adams said.
FAMU finished the contest shooting 41.8 percent (23-of-55), whereas NCCU shot 33.3 percent (18-of-54).
In the first half, the Eagles jumped out to a 9-2 lead, capped off by a Jeremy Ingram free throw with 15:39 to in the first
FAMU would cut NCCU’s lead to 13-12 on a Walter Davis put back with 12:33 to go in the first.
The Eagles would extend their lead to 29-19 with a 16-7 run, capped off by a Jay Copeland layup with 6:12 to go.
FAMU would go into the break trailing NCCU, 42-34 as the Rattlers finished the first half shooting 48.1 percent (23-of-55), while the Eagles shot 41.9 percent (18-of-54).
The Rattlers were paced by both Adams and Reggie Lewis as they both finished the contest with 19 points each. Kellum would lead FAMU on the boards with eight.
NCCU had four Eagles to score in double-figures with Alfonzo Houston scoring a team high 16 points, followed by Ingram with 13, while both Jay Copeland and Emanuel Chapman finished with 11 points each. Karamo Jawara led the Eagles on the boards with 13.
With the win, FAMU goes to 5-11 and 1-2 in Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference play, while NCCU goes to 8-5 and 0-1 in conference play.
"What we did was put the ball in our best player’s hands. He was open from a dribble-drive. We spread the floor with all five players to get him that shot. We put the ball in Reggie’s hand and told him to make a play and he found Jamie. It worked out for us. What we realized is that going down the stretch you’ve got to put the ball in the best players hands and that’s what we did tonight," Johnson said.
FAMU will return to play on Monday, January 13 against North Carolina A&T at the Al Lawson Center in a 7:30 p.m. start.
COURTESY FLORIDA A&M UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION
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