Dec. 4, 2010

Box Score

By Dan Ryan
BCUAthletics.com

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Welcome to the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, Garrius Holloman and Mikel Trapp. Looks like you're going to enjoy it here.

CJ Reed got some help from some Bethune-Cookman newcomers as the Wildcats began MEAC play with a 62-55 victory over Florida A&M Saturday evening in the Lawson Center.

Reed did the franchise thing and led all scorers with 19, but two Wildcats making their MEAC debut delivered as B-CU (4-4,1-0) won its second straight and first away from the friendly confines of historic Moore Gymnasium.

 Holloman, the junior college transfer, scored 13 of his 14 in the first half while Trapp, a freshman, delivered 10 huge second half points that helped B-CU pull away from a 42-41 game.

Ever since the Florida Christian victory, Reed emphasized to his teammates how intense this rivalry game would be. They listened.

"They were both huge," CJ Reed said of his teammates. "I told G (Holloman) it was going to be a physical game and he showed up big. Those were big shots Trapp made."

B-CU held FAMU (3-5, 0-1) scoreless for five minutes to take a 51-41 lead, then after a Rattler free throw, Trapp nailed a three-pointer that made it 54-42 with 2:19 to play.

FAMU made it a two-possession game three times down the stretch, but Reed sank six consecutive free throws to keep the Rattlers at bay.

B-CU led 33-27 at halftime, with Holloman dominating the post and hitting the occasional jumper. He went silent in the second in the second and so did the Wildcats for a while.

It took seven minutes for B-CU to register a field goal. However, the Cats' zone defense , which forced nine turnovers in the second half and stymied the Rattler transition game, allowed B-CU to regroup after FAMU took its only lead at 35-34 lead on a Yannick Crowder dunk with 17:59 remaining.

"We played ugly but the thing is, we played defensively well enough to pull out the win," said B-CU coach Clifford Reed.

Javoris Bryant had eight points and nine rebounds for B-CU, which plays again next Saturday at UCF.