Road trip tests Florida A&M Rattlers

TALLAHASSEE, Florida  -- The road that FAMU has traveled so far hasn’t been an easy one and it’s getting tougher with every stop that the men’s basketball team makes. The Rattlers’ next stop comes tonight at the University of Arkansas.

During the next 10 days, they’ll travel to Las Vegas for a tournament, then play at Jacksonville before coming home for a Dec. 1 game against Bethune-Cookman University at the Lawson Center.

Being away from home against teams from the Big 12, Pac 12 and SEC has presented some challenges, the biggest of them for coach Clemon Johnson being finding ways to keep his players’ confidence up. The Rattlers (0-3) go into every game as underdogs and, with the exception of a five-point loss to Houston, the games haven’t been close.

Things could have been much easier for the Rattlers against less powerful opponents, but with a financially strapped athletic department the financial guarantee take precedent.

“What I have to do is keep convincing those guys that this (playing against bigger programs) isn’t how it’s going to be for the entire year,” Johnson said Monday night before a team practice.



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FAMU MEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE -2012

Date	Opponent	Location	Time (ET)	Results
Thu, Nov 01	Albany State (Exhibition)	Tallahassee, Fla.	7 p.m.
Fri, Nov 09	Houston	at Houston, Texas	12 p.m.	76 - 81 (L) Final STATS
Tue, Nov 13	Stetson	at DeLand, Fla.	7 p.m.	66 - 88 (L) Final STATS
Las Vegas Tournament
Sun, Nov 18	Arizona State	at Tempe, Ariz.	2 p.m.	70 - 97 (L) Final STATS
Tue, Nov 20	Arkansas	at Fayetteville, Ark.	TBA	- (L) (W) (T)
Fri, Nov 23	Longwood	at Las Vegas, Nev.	TBA
Sat, Nov 24	Presbyterian/Longwood/Cornell	at Las Vegas, Nev.	TBA
Thu, Nov 29	North Florida	at Jacksonville, Fla.	7 p.m.
Sat, Dec 01	Bethune-Cookman *	Tallahassee, Fla.	6 p.m.
Tue, Dec 04	Edward Waters College	Tallahassee, Fla.	7 p.m.
Sat, Dec 08	Allen University	Tallahassee, Fla.	4 p.m.
Sat, Dec 15	Clemson	at Clemson, S.C.	TBA
Tue, Dec 18	Texas Tech	at Lubbock, Texas	TBA
Sat, Dec 29	Georgia	at Athens, Ga	TBA