Head coach Clemon Johnson had seen the scenario play out several times this year. “Tonight I take away that we know how to win and we can win. I know there was doubt in some of our players, because we’ve been this close virtually all year. Tonight, we didn’t make the mistakes down the wire and we were able to pull out a big win,” Johnson said.
FIU would take a 73-64 lead with 1:59 to go in the game, capped off by a Cody Man three pointer.
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Bradshaw knew the team had clawed their way back into the game and just needed a boost to get to the extra period. “I was thinking we needed a good basket to tie the game up and go into overtime and give us another shot to try to win the game.,” he said.
FAMU, who never led in the contest to that point, would take the lead for the first time on a D’Andre Bullard layup with 2:52 to go in the overtime period.
The Panthers would tie the contest at 87-87 at the 2:22 mark on a pair of Tyrnell Murphy free throws.
FAMU would retake the lead on a Bradshaw traditional three-point play, giving the Rattlers a 90-87 lead with 2:10 left in the contest. He would then convert on two free throws with 33 second s left, followed by a Trey Kellum free throw to give the Rattlers, the 93-88 overtime win.
FAMU (4-10) was paced by Bradshaw as he scored 19 of his game high 26 points in the second half to lead all scorers. Jamie Adams poured in 20 points, while Trey Kellum pumped in 17. Bradshaw led the Rattlers on the boards with nine.
Johnson feel this was the type of momentum booster that could give the team much-needed confidence. “This is what we’ve been looking for, a win like this. I’ve been telling people if we can get two straight, and this is our second straight, this will help us to go. We’ve had problems winning games, playing down to the wire and then making turnovers and losing the games in the last two minutes. Tonight we came through and pulled it out like a champion,” Johnson said.
FIU (8-7) had six Panthers to score in double-figures with Dennis Mavin scoring a team high 24 points. Cody Mann dropped in 16 points, followed by Murphy with 15 points and Jerome Frink with 12. Rakeem Buckles recorded a double-double on the night as he scored 11 points and pulled down 16 rebounds. Jason Boswell scored 10 points to round out the cast of double-digit performers.
In the first half, FIU jumped out to a 20-11 lead, capped off by a Frink layup with 11:53 to go. FAMU would close out the half with a 14-6 run as they went into the break trailing FIU 39-33.
The Rattlers finished the first half shooting 32.5 percent (13-of-40), where the Panthers shot 56.5 percent.
In the second half, FIU would extend their lead to much as 10 points and nine points on three occasions, before the Rattlers would make their 17-9 run. The Rattlers made their run from the paint, contrary to their usual perimeter game. “Coach talked about getting to the basket and not settling for jumpers and that’s where most of my points came, from getting to the basket and being aggressive. He preaches about it all the time. He says you’ve got to have heart. Tonight that heart meant getting rebounds and getting stops at the end and putting the ball in the basket,” Bradshaw said.
FAMU finished the contest shooting 43.4 percent (36-of-83), while FIU shot 49.1 percent (26-of-53).
The Rattlers will return to action on Saturday, January 4 as they will travel to Auburn, Ala., to take on Auburn in a 7 p.m. CST.
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