Feb. 20, 2012

Box Score

SAVANNAH, Ga. – Bethune-Cookman found itself down 7-0 before it got its first shot off Monday night and things didn't get much better after that as Savannah State downed the Wildcats 67-44 in a key Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference game in Tiger Arena.

Cedric Smith scored 17 points as the Tigers (18-10 overall, 11-2 MEAC) took a one game lead over both Norfolk State and Delaware Stateand two over B-CU with three games left in the regular season.

The Wildcats (13-15,9-4) beat the Tigers 68-62 in Daytona Beach last month but trailed in this one from start to finish, shooting just 36.7 percent from the field in its lowest scoring conference game of the season

“Savannah State jumped on us and stayed on us for 40 minutes,” said B-CU coach Gravelle Craig. “You're going to have games like this during a season, it's unfortunate this happened in a bad game. A coach told me sometimes you're not as bad as you are in some losses and not as good as you are in some wins. We have to keep an even keel and regroup.”

Adrien Coleman cut it to 15-10 on a lay-up with 12:28 remaining, but the Tigers pushed their lead to 32-19 at halftime and led by as many as 27 in the second half. Rashad Hassan and Arnold Louis each scored 11 for Savannah State, who won its tenth straight.

Coleman led B-CU with 11. Paul Scotland and Javoris Bryant added 8 each, and Garrius Holloman had six points and seven rebounds.

 B-CU hosts Norfolk State Saturday.