Dec. 3, 2011

Box Score/ Photo Gallery/Post-Game

By Dan Ryan
B-CUAthletics.com

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - So how's Anthony Breeze's shoulder doing? Does 22 points and seven rebounds in Bethune-Cookman's 74-59 victory over Florida A&M Saturday in historic Moore Gymnasium answer your question?

In the game penciled in as the game Breeze was to return at full force after suffering a shoulder injury early in the season, the senior was 6-10 from the field and 10-14 from the line with four blocks and three steals thrown in for good measure as the Wildcats opened defense of their Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference regular season championship.

"He's super athletic," B-CU Acting Head Coach Gravelle Craig said of Breeze, who stands at 6-5 but holds his own with the 6-8s and 6-9 with his speed and physical play. "The biggest thing is he plays tough. His explosiveness makes up for his lack of size.

Craig rolled the dice at UNF Tuesday and put Breeze in the line-up to shake off the rust from four games on the bench. The stat line: 1-4 field goals, 2-8 free throws and five turnovers in 22 minutes. Ouch, but it got Breeze back in the mix.

"I lost my timing and I wasn't clicking with everybody," said Breeze, wearing a contraption underneath his jersey that looked better suited for bungee jumping than supporting a shoulder. "I think I hurt everyone at UNF more than I helped. "Tonight I was just playing hard. We defended real well."

Adrien Coleman scored 18 points on 7-9 shooting, and it was about defense for him as well. Coleman's a scorer (read: playing defense sometimes isn't a priority) but on this night, he was one rebound away from a double-double, made four steals and took a charge.

"If he plays defense, he gets minutes," Craig said of Coleman. "He guarded. He rebounded. If he plays like this, we can be tough to beat."

B-CU (3-5, 1-0) erased an early 8-4, took the lead at 12-10 on an Alex Smith jumper with 11:57 remaining and led the rest of the way.

A trio of three-pointers from Mikel Trapp and some timely jumpers from Kevin Dukes helped the Wildcats turn a 23-22 contest into a 38-29 halftime lead.

Florida A&M (0-7,0-1) cut a 42-29 lead to 47-42 with 15 minutes remaining, but Breeze and Coleman helped B-CU away and lead by as many as 21 at 64-43 on a Breeze jumper with 7:30 left. FAMU never got closer than 14.

Freshman point guard Ricky Johnson had nine points and four assists with just one turnover for B-CU, while Dukes and Smith added six apiece.

This was B-CU's fourth straight win over Florida A&M, and also kept alive a streak of regular season conference wins now at eight.

"I've concentrated on conference games all year," Craig said. "Everything we do is geared to conference and get us ready for January."

B-CU returns to action Dec. 10 at UCF.

NOTES: B-CU matched its season high for points and set season highs for blocks (7) and free throws made (24) ... The last time B-CU recorded at least 7 blocks was Jan 04, 2011 against Carver Bible ... The Wildcats have recorded more steals than their opponents for the past 6 games ... Bethune-Cookman has turned the ball over less than their opponents for the past 4 games... Breeze recorded a team season high in blocks with 4, free throws made with 10, and free throws attempted with 14 ... This was Breeze's third 20 point game of his career and also saw his career highs for blocks and FT made...Trapp had a career high with 3 three pointers...B-CU has won the last four games in Daytona Beach against the Rattlers ... Head Football Coach Brian Jenkins offered the pre-game invocation ... Recognized during timeouts were MEAC Defensive Player of the Year Ryan Davis and All-MEAC volleyball performers Krysta Gardner and Janeen Davis.