BATON ROUGE, La.- Only three regular season games remain for B-CU hoops as the Wildcats' jockeying for SWAC playoff position continues in a pair of road games at Southern and Grambling State this weekend. Tipoff at Southern is set for 3:30 p.m. EST on Saturday , March 2, while Grambling State will tip at 8:30 pm.. EST on Monday, March 4. 



Saturday, March 2
Opponent:  Southern (16-11, 10-4 SWAC)
Time: 3:30 p.m. EST
Location: Baton Rouge, La. | F.G. Clark Activity Center
Watch: hbcugo.tv
Live Stats: https://gojagsports.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary

Monday, March 4
Opponent: Grambling State (14-13, 11-3 SWAC)
Time: 8:30 p.m. EST
Location: Grambling, La. | Willis Reed Court at the Fredrick C. Hobdy Assembly Center
Watch: https://www.youtube.com/@GramblingStateUniv/streams
Live Stats: https://gsutigers.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary



 The Wildcats gifted Moore Gymnasium one more thriller in their home finale as they bested Alabama State, 90-84 in overtime, Monday night. 

Back-to-back threes from Jakobi Heady and Dhashon Dyson put Bethune-Cookman up 11-5 through five minutes of play. Alabama State.

Heady's fall-away jumper made it a 21-12 advantage eight mintutes into the contest as the Wildcats started 8-10 from the field and a perfect 3-3 from three. 

Despite being out-shot by over 11 attempts through the first 13 minutes of the game, the Wildcats maintained a 31-22 lead heading into the under-eight media break behind 13 early points from Heady.

The Wildcat lead reached double figures at 36-25 after an Elijah Hulsewe and-one with five to play in the half.  They led by as much as 13 through the game's first 20 minutes. 

The Wildcats entered halftime up 47-36 behind three double-digit scorers in heady, Dhashon Dyson, and Reggie Ward Jr.

Alabama State wasted no time climbing back into the game after the breaak, cutting the deficit to one on a 12-2 run before Dyson stopped the bleeding with midrange jumper that made it 51-48. 

The Hornets tied things at 53-all at the under 12-media on a TJ Madlock pullup. They took the lead at the free throw as Amarr Knox put the Hornets up 54-53.

The squads traded baskets and leads, again finding themselves all square at 61-61 with seven minutes to play. 

Heady's jumper made it a five-point game with just 1:45 to play.

Trailing just 68-65 with 30 seconds to play, the Hornets inbounded the ball and took things all the way down to 10 seconds, as Madlock made both free throws to make it a one-point game, but Harmon took care of business at the Charity stripe to bring the lead back up to three with eight seconds to play.

The two sides traded free throws again before Seneca Willougby was whistled for a three-point foul on the final possession of regulation. Madlock made all three, and the game headed into overtime. 

Two quick buckets for Dyson put the Cats up 76-75. Zion's steal and score made it a three-point game with three to play.

Harmon's hot hand continued as an and-one and deep three made it a two-possession lead once again at 84-79 with just a minute and a half to go. A flagrant foul gave B-CU two shots and the ball to keep the cushion at four with a minute remaining. 

An Alabama State turnover with 14 seconds to play all but shut the door on a Hornets win, and B-CU closed out the 90-84 win. 



Back on Jan. 15, the Wildcats defeated Southern in an overtime thriller, erasing a 14-point deficit to take down the Jaguars, 83-81. The Jaguars have won seven and lost three games since that meeting, including two straight losses ag Texas Southern and Grambling State last weekend. Southern sits in second place in the SWAC standings, just a half-game in front of Texas Southern and 1.5 games up on B-CU, which sits in the fifth spot.

The Jaguars rank top-three in the SWAC in both offense and defense, letd by the SWAC's leading scorer, Tai'Ron Joseph, who averages over 20 points per game. 

On Jan. 13, the Wildcats fell to Grambling State despite 20 points and seven rebounds from Dhashon Dyson. The Tigers are 9-2 since, including three straight wins over Texas Southern, Prairie View A&M, and Southern. Grambling State leads the SWAC at 11-3, just a game up on Southern with three to play.

The Tigers are led by their defense, ranking near the bottom of the conference in scoring at 66.7 points per game. They are the second-fewest points per game in the conference at 70 per game.




Saturday will be the 9th meeting between B-CU and Southern. Southern leads the all-time series, 5-3, but B-CU has won back-to-back contests.

Bethune-Cookman and Grambling State have med 11 times previously, with B-CU winning just two of those contests. The WIldcats have lost four straight to the Tigers. 



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