DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The free throw shooting is getting better, so is the rebounding. Now Bethune-Cookman needs to learn to how to come up big down the stretch.
 
Brandon Tabb and Quinton Forrest combined for 43 points, but the Wildcats fell 76-73 in a last minute thriller against Coppin State Monday night.

The Wildcats, now 0-3 in Mid Eastern Athletic Conference, had a chance to send the game to overtime, but committed a last second turnover to put the game out of reach.

"We have to close games. We've lost three or four close games this year," said Head Coach Gravelle Craig. "We have to make plays down the stretch. We had a late turnover, missed lay up, and missed three – that's all within the last minute. We have to make plays to win games in conference."

There were positives from Monday night.

After making just three of 13 free throws in a six-point loss to Morgan State, the Wildcats made their first seven attempts from the line before slipping to a 68 percent (17-25) effort for the night..

Tough zone defense, and switching between full court and half court pressure throughout the second half  allowed B-CU to score 16 fast break points and rack up 12 offensive rebounds.

"We played better, kept our composure and ran some offense. Down the stretch we tried to execute, which is a good sign because we worked on that," said Craig.

Tabb recovered from scoring just five points against Morgan State to finish with 23 while Forrest, a sophomore,  continues to play high quality basketball recording 20 points and six rebounds on 9-11 shooting.
 
Tabb, now battling for the MEAC scoring title, now knows he's on the scouting report and has to elevate his game.

"I knew they will be trying to run me of the three point line, so I've been working on my handles, and learning how to get to the basket and pass out more since they're bringing everybody to me," said Tabb. "It's a just a matter of getting more teammates involved."

Diamante Lewis is learning the point guard position by recording eight assists with only three turnovers. But there is work to do.

Coppin State's Joshua Treadwell led his team with 18 points of the bench by abusing late close outs against B-CU's zone defense.

B-CU (3-13,0-3) will try to snap its six-game game losing streak at South Carolina State University (3-11,0-1) on Saturday.