DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - It was all Wildcats Saturday night as B-CU dismantled Florida A&M to open Southwestern Athletic Conference Play with a 98-86 win at Moore Gymnasium.
A high-flying start for Bethune-Cookman (6-8, 1-0 SWAC) saw them keep things tight with
Florida A&M (2-10, 0-1 SWAC) after big dunks from
Reggie Ward Jr. and
Jakobi Heady.
The Wildcats offense erupted at the 14 minute mark, racing out on an 20-4 run to jump in front, 31-18, with all B-CU starters contributing at least five points.
That run improved to 34-10 as B-CU jumped all over the Rattlers, 42-21 including a highlight-reel alley-oop from
Zion Harmon to
Dhashon Dyson.
The Rattlers finally settled things down nearing the end of the half, but a Shannon Grant and-one was followed up by a Harmon layup as the teams hit the break with B-CU up 54-33.
The Rattlers opened the half on an 8-2 run, prompting a Wildcats timeout up 56-41, the highest-scoring first half of the season for B-CU against DI competition.
FAMU took things to as close as 11, but the B-CU lead quickly reached 23 on a Dyson three with 12 minutes remaining.
The game hit hit the under eight media with B-CU in cruise control up 82-64 with both Ward and Dyson eclipsing 20 points.
A the two-minute mark, a 6-0 Rattler run made it 94-79, prompting a FAMU timeout down just 15, but they could not string together much else offensively as the horn sounded with B-CU taking it, 98-86.
- Dhashon Dyson led all scorers with 30 on 11-22 shooting including threes, four rebounds, and five asssists
- Zion Harmon posted a double-double with 14 points and 10 assists with four steals.
- Reggie Ward Jr. and Jakobi Heady also scored in double figures for B-CU with 21 and 17, respectively.
- The Wildcats swiped 14 steals in the contest. Only two of ten Wildcats to appear in the game did not record a steal.
Bethune-Cookman will take the week to prepare for another weekend of SWAC play at Moore Gymnasium as they welcome in Grambling Stat on Saturday, Jan. 13 at 4 p.m.
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