PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico – Brayon Freeman scored a season-high 26 points Tuesday afternoon as Bethune-Cookman defeated North Dakota, 79-67 in the opening game of the Cancun Challenge sponsored by the Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya held inside the Hard Rock Cancun.
 
Bethune-Cookman (2-4) led 46-41 at the half behind a 50 percent shooting performance as a team.
 
Brayon Freeman, a senior transfer guard from Coastal Carolina and a native of Oxon Hill, Maryland, provided the Wildcats with 17 points in the opening stanza. He went 8-for-11 from the field in that span, adding a pair of assists.
 
With B-CU trailing, 22-21 with 10:28 remaining, Freeman's driving layup put the Cats on top to kick start an 11-5 run. A Trey Thomas three-pointer capped the run putting the Maroon and Gold up 33-26 with 6:36 showing on the clock.
 
In the second half, North Dakota (3-3) was limited to just 30 percent shooting with B-CU forcing the Fighting Hawks into seven second half miscues, converting those into five points.
 
Mier Panoam registered 11 points for North Dakota in the second half.
 
Bethune-Cookman ran off the first seven points of the second half to go ahead, 53-41 on a three-pointer from graduate forward Jesus Carralero Martin.
 
Treysen Eaglestaff's three-point play conversion at the free throw line brought South Dakota to within 66-57 at the midway point of the second half. A Daniel Rouzan jumper in the paint answered for the Wildcats and pushed the B-CU advantage back to 13 (75-62) late-on as the lead never slipped below double digits the rest of the way.
 
The Fighting Hawks were led on the day by Eaglestaff's 20-point scoring effort, followed immediately by Panoam (19). As a team, they shot just 7-for-31 from 3-point range, but did manage a 46-39 advantage on the boards.
 
The Cats were sparked by Freeman's 26 points, while teammates Thoams (17) and Rouzan (10) also entered double-figures scoring. Rouzan and Thomas were joined by Kalil Camara with a team-high six rebounds. And it was Thomas' two assists leading the team in that department.
 
Bethune-Cookman takes on Gardner-Webb on Wednesday at 3 p.m. in the title game of the Mayan Division.
 
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