Dec. 5, 2009
Box Score
Contact B-CU SID Mark Johnson (386) 481-2206 -
Daytona Beach, Florida
B-CU 58, FAMU 57
C. J. Reed's Techical Free Throw With 4 Seconds Left Wins It 58-57
B-CU Wins MEAC Opener And Earns Fourth Straight Win
Bethune-Cookman - FAMU - rivalry game in early December of the 2009-2010 basketball season- and of course, the game goes right down to the wire. B-CU's C. J. Reed's hit one of two technical foul shots with four seconds left to give the Cage `Cats a hard-earned 58-57 win over the Rattlers in the Ocean Center.
FAMU called time out after securing a rebound in the final seconds and the Rattlers were all out of time outs and were assessed a technical. Reed missed the first and made the second technical foul shot. B-CU's Alexander Starling deflected a FAMU pass out of bounds as the clock ran out, the Wildcats fourth win in a row and now 1-0 in the MEAC.
"I'm very proud of our guys. They gutted it out and we got a break at the end and capitlized on the mistake," said B-CU Coach Cliff Reed. "It is a rival game and we knew FAMU would come in ready to play. They have played nine games in 20 days but for the rival game they were ready. We wanted to put pressure on them and wear them down."
Starling's Big Plays Down the Stretch Pulls B-CU Through
Junior co-captain C. J. Reed's took the games final shot with 6 seconds left and missed a lane jumper.
FAMU got the rebound and called timeout.......the Rattlers were out of time outs.
Reed hit the second technical free throw and FAMU's final play was thrawted by Starling who jumped in front of a Rattler player and knocked a pass out of bounds near half court as time expired. B-CU 58, FAMU 57
"Early in the year, this is a big win for us," said Coach Reed. "We are 1-0 in the conference and will be in first place for a month. We wanted to protect our home court. We have more home games in December and we want to play well at home. We need to keep working hard and need to improve our free throw shooting to close teams out at the end and finish. We need to work on rebounding and defending."
WILDCATS WITH THREE MORE HOME GAMES IN DECEMBER
The B-CU-FAMU matchup at the Daytona Beach Ocean Center drew 2,328 fans. Starling led B-CU with 17 points, 6 rebounds. Reed had 15 points, 6 assists and 3 rebounds. The Wildcats shot 13-23 (.565 %) in the second half following a cold first half hitting only 9-26 field goals (.346 %). Cookman led 26-21 at halftime.
FAMU (0-10, 0-1 MEAC) played its ninth road game of the season Saturday and were led in scoring by Yannick Crowder with 13 points.
Bethune-Cookman University has finals week upcoming and will play next at Central Florida, playing at UCF, 7 p.m., December 12 in Orlando.
B-CU hosts Carver Bible (Dec. 14, 7 p.m.), Jacksonville University (Dec. 16, 7 p.m.) and Florida Christian College (Dec. 19, 7 p.m) - all three games at Moore Gymnasium.
