DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - After that second half against Nebraska-Omaha when Bethune-Cookman's shooting was colder than a dead mackerel, then falling behind 8-0 in the first two minutes Monday, Malik Maitland knew he had to do something to get the Wildcats going.

What was it? Well, he's a point guard. So he did the point guard thing.

The senior finished the night with 23 points and eight assists as the Wildcats bounced back from last week's loss with a solid 84-74 rivalry win over Stetson that gave Bethune-Cookman its third win in the last four meetings with its Volusia County neighbors, and for the first time victories in consecutive meetings.

Cletrell Pope double-doubled again – this time 15 points and 14 rebounds – and Soufiyane Diakite added 10 points as the Wildcats (3-4) quickly erased that 8-0 deficit and took control late in the first half. BCU looked more like the team that scared Miami two weeks ago on Monday than the one that struggled mightily in the second half in its last home game. 

Maitland had a lot to do with that. 

Once BCU got its transition going, the inside game started thriving. The Wildcats registered 48 points in the paint and 19 offensive rebounds.

Oh, yeah, Maitland found his three-point range again – going three from four from behind the arc in posting his second 20-point night in the last three games. "That's my role – getting everybody together," Maitland. "I needed to step up and be a leader.
We came together as a team."

Trailing 23-16, BCU finally took the lead on Maitland's three-pointer that made it 26-25 with 5:37 left in the first half.  The Wildcats closed the half on a 12-4 run – hitting on five on eight from the field – to stretch the lead to 37-29 at halftime.

Pope had his strongest stretch in the second as BCU took its largest lead of the night with 8:06 remaining on a Leon Redd three-pointer that made it 65-48. Stetson (1-6) never got closer than eight points after that, and Maitland sank five free throws to seal the deal.

Pope was 7-8 from the field, including three second-half dunks en route to his third double-double. His stat line included three blocks and he had five offensive boards.

"We're not losing on our home court again," Pope said.

Diakite was 5-9 from the field and had six rebounds. Redd finished with nine points and Mark Gordon had eight points, five rebounds and four assists.

Abayomi Iyiola led Stetson with 16.

Bethune-Cookman hosts FAU Saturday at 4 p.m.