Potts' 25, Salaam's 3s Help BCU Hoops Net Road Win

MARTIN, Tennessee – Jordan Potts scored 25 points, and Josue Salaam scored all 15 of his points on second-half three-pointers as Bethune-Cookman downed Tennessee-Martin 86-79 Monday evening.

Ricky Johnson also scored 15 points, including four free throws down the stretch, LaRon Smith posted his second straight double-double (11 points, 10 rebounds) and Mario Moody 10 as the Wildcats went to 2-0 for the first time since they won the 2010-11 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference regular season championship.

This was also Bethune-Cookman’s first non-conference win since a 71-65 victory at New Orleans on November 15, 2012 – a streak of 24 games.

UT-Martin (0-2) trailed by as many as 17 in the first half, but rallied to take a 34-33 lead and led 49-41 on a Richard Lee three-pointer with 13:43 left.

Trailing 63-59, the Wildcats used an 11-0 run to take a 65-63 lead on a Smith dunk followed by a Potts jumper with 5:35 left.

The Skyhawks closed to one on three occasions, the last at 74-73 on a Jacolby Mobley three-pointer with 2:17 left. B-CU answered with three-pointers from Potts and Salaam to push their lead to 80-74 with 1:14 left. .

Johnson helped iced the game with his four free throws, while Smith and Quinton Forrest each added a free throw that kept the game out of reach,

A strong start saw B-CU score the first eight points and take a 24-7 lead on Potts’ three-pointer with 10:54 left.

Potts also had six assists in addition to his four three-pointer. Salaam, one of nine newcomers on the roster, was 5-8 from behind the arc in the second half.

Randy Holmes had seven points and nine rebounds for the Wildcats. Moody, the MEAC player of the week, was one rebound shy of a double-double and also had three assists and two blocks.

Mobley’s 17 points led the Skyhawks, who beat B-CU 74-56 last season in Daytona Beach.

B-CU travels to face Richmond Saturday.

HEAD COACH GRAVELLE CRAIG

“It’s a very satisfying win. We played hard. After the way they handed it to us last year, we were prepared.”

“We made big plays. Potts hit shots. LaRon came up big. Ricky hit the free throw and [Salaam] hit some huge threes.”

“We knew UT-M would make a run. We just had to maintain and keep doing what we were doing.

“This was a good test to let us know where we are. We’re starting to execute. We’re playing good zone defense and offensively, we’re more in sync. Playing those games in the Bahamas has helped with that.”

JORDAN POTTS

“UT-M is a strong Ohio Valley Conference team. We knew we had to weather whatever they came at us with. We’re confident and we stuck together.

“We want to prove we belong and can be a force to reckon with.”

“Randy Holmes did a great job on the boards. [Salaam] was the difference in the second. His threes opened up the floor.”

BOX SCORE

COURTESY BETHUNE-COOKMAN UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION