PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas – Four Bethune-Cookman players scored in double-figures Saturday evening as the Wildcats defeated Prairie View A&M by a score of 60-58 in a key Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) men's basketball contest at the William J. Nicks Building.
 
Bethune-Cookman (9-14, 5-5 SWAC) never trailed on the night as the Wildcats claimed the first three-game winning streak of the Reggie Theus era in Daytona Beach.
 
The Wildcats used early baskets from Joe French and Marcus Garrett to jump out to a 12-2 lead less than four minutes into the contest. Prairie View A&M (8-15, 4-6) worked its way back into the game as the Panthers used a 13-3 run – with a majority of the scoring coming courtesy Hegel Augustin, to tie the game at 25-25 with 7:03 showing on the clock.
 
Augustin scored 10 points for the hosts in the opening half, adding six rebounds in the process.
 
Garrett would combine with French for 23 points in the opening half, with the Maroon and Gold holding a 39-33 edge at the break after a Will Douglas layup for Prairie View A&M.
 
In the second half, BCU got a three-pointer from Zion Harmon to follow a Garrett layup in order to lead it 44-36 just over three minutes into the half.
 
The Cats led 51-42 after a Harmon jumper from the right elbow. But a furious rally from Prairie View A&M saw the Panthers get four points from Yahuza Rasas and a pair of free throws by Douglas to pull within 51-50 with 6:11 remaining.
 
BCU answered in kind with a four-point swing of its own as Kevin Davis scored the next four for the Maroon and Gold to push the Cats lead out to 55-50. Teammate Dhashon Dyson added a jumper from the left side and a three-pointer from the corner to stretch the Wildcats advantage at 60-53 with 1:59 left in the contest.
 
Moments later, the Panthers' Trajan Wesley converted the old-fashioned three-point play with the free throw to pull his side to 60-56. Douglas collected the offensive rebound and scored the put-back to bring the Panthers to within 60-58 with 1:25 remaining.
 
In the end, Bethune-Cookman was able to keep the Panthers off the score sheet the rest of the way, helping move the Wildcats to a three-way tie in fifth place of the league standings alongside Alabama A&M and Jackson State, respectfully.
 
Prairie View A&M was led on the night by Augustin with 15 points and 14 rebounds. Rasas had a double-double of his own with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Jeremiah Gambrell ended with 11 points. And it was Douglas finishing the game with 10 points and six rebounds.
 
BCU was paced on the night by Harmon's 14-point performance, adding five rebounds and two assists to his stat line. Garrett ended with 13 points and 11 rebounds for the double-double – the second of its kind on the season for the Chicago native. Dyson added 11 points for the Wildcats, while French was 4-for-6 from three-point range to finish the game with 12 points of his own.
 
Bethune-Cookman returns to action Monday as the Cats travel to Texas Southern for a game to be televised on ESPNU at 9 p.m. ET.
 
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