DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Bethune-Cookman's home conference woes continued Monday night as Howard downed the Wildcats 45-42 in Historic Moore Gym.
Howard's James Carlton tied a career-high with 27 points and the Bison (10-10 overall, 4-2 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) won the free throw shooting contest down the stretch to hand the Wildcats (6-15) their fourth league loss at home this season, with three decided by a total of nine points
Bethune-Cookman led by one with 1:46 left, but Carlton and James Daniel went 7 of 7 from the line, while Bethune-Cookman was 3 of 6 in the same sequence, and Denzel Dulin missed a 3-point attempt with three seconds left.
There were five ties in the second half and a three-point play by Ricky Johnson with 2:06 left put Bethune-Cookman up 39-38.
Travis Elliott's layup and a pair of free throws gave Bethune-Cookman a 25-20 lead with 7:09 left in the first half, but both teams went cold, with Howard going 2 of 10 from the floor and Bethune-Cookman just 1 of 7 through the end of the half, with the Wildcats, despite going scoreless the final 5:18, leading 27-25.
Johnson led the Wildcats with 14 points, followed by Stewart with 12 points and seven rebounds. Elliott had six points and six rebounds
The Wildcats travel to Florida A&M Saturday.
RICKY JOHNSON
[On missing the potential game-tying free throw] "As soon as it left my hand, I knew it was off right. That free throw hurt. I don't think I'll ever forget that one. I'll go back in the gym and work. I don't ever want that to happen again."
[On James Carlton's play for Howard]: "Tonight was his night."
BRANDON STEWART
"We play well during games, but we have to learn how to finish down the stretch."
HEAD COACH GRAVELLE CRAIG
"Ricky's won some games for us. But that really wasn't the ball game tonight. In the final two minutes, we fouled a 3-point shooter, fouled them with 3 seconds on the shot clock and missed three free throws."
NOTES: Howard snapped a five-game losing streak to the Wildcats...The Wildcats are 0-4 at home in MEAC play for the first time since 2009 ... Jeffon Powell started for the first time in conference play...Stewart has led the team in rebounding three times this season and has been in double figures four straight games ... B-CU set season lows for field goals made (11) and field goal percentage (26.8)...Johnson's consecutive free throw streak ended at 22.
