ATLANTA - Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament time has arrived as the Wildcats are set to embark on their third SWAC tournament run under head coach Reggie Theus as they take on the conference's No. 6 seed, Alcorn State, Thursday night at 8:30 p.m. at Gateway Center Arena. 

Tickets are available at SWAC.org. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+. Fans can listen to the game live for free at YouTube.com/CatEyeNetwork, or locally on the radio in Daytona Beach at 1380 WELE. 

The winner of the game will advance to the SWAC semifinals to play Jackson State, who defeated Florida A&M Wednesday night, on Frriday, March 14 at 8:30 p.m.



Thursday, March 13
Opponent: Alcorn State (11-19, 11-7 SWAC)
Time: 8:30 p.m. EST
Location: Atlanta, Ga. | Gateway Center Arena
Tickets: https://www.ticketmaster.com/search?q=swac
Watch: https://www.espn.com/espnplus/player/_/id/11e32069-e1d5-48a0-97d6-0733cc9bf464
Listen: https://www.youtube.com/cateyenetwork / 1380 WELE 
Live Stats: bcuathletics.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary




Down 16 in the second half, and down seven with just 30 seconds left in the game, Moore Magic struck again as the Wildcats stormed all the way back on a Jesus Carralero Martin three that rattled home for a 76-75 win over Florida A&M, Saturday night at Moore Gymnasium. 

With all regular season conference games now complete around the league, the Wildcats have locked up the Southwestern Athletic Conference's (SWAC) No. 3 seed. It is the highest ever finish for the Wildcats in the conference standings since joining the SWAC in 2021. 

FIRST HALF

Daniel Rozan drained a straightaway three and Trey Thomas connected on two quick jumpers as Bethune-Cookman and Florida A&M traded baskets to a 12-12 tie nine minutes into the contest.

Two quick paint buckets for the Rattlers gave them a 17-12 lead, btu A kalil Camara three put the Cats back within one. 

From the seven-minute mark in the first half, FAMU ran off a 13-4 run to go up 33-24 with two minutes in the half. As B-Cu struggled to connect from behind the arc, a pair of Rattler layups sent them to the locker room up 37-26.

SECOND HALF

The B-CU offense lagged early in the second half as FAMU held the Wildcats to only four points in the first five minutes of play, pushing their lead to 46-30. 

The Rattlers continued their strong start to the second half, taking their largest lead of the game at 48-32, but back-to-back threes from Camara kept the Cats in range at 50-38 with 12 to go. 

The Wildcats slowly chipped away at the deficit, cutting things to single digits on another Camara three just past the 10-minute mark. 

A Rattler three and dunk pushed the lead back up to 13, reaching as high as 68-64 with five minutes to play. 

Brayon Freeman, making his return from injury after months of inactivity, got to the free throw line for two, adding a fast break layup with two minutes to play to again make it a single-digit deficit at 71-63. 

Freeman again delivered with a jumper and Seneca Willoughby connected on a three with just 30 seconds remaining to make it a four-point game.

An impressive full-court press rattled the FAMU offense, as Carralero Martin came up with a steal with just eight seconds to play to give the Cats the ball down one. 

Out of a B-CU timeout, the ball found Carralero Martin in the corner, and his triple rang down as the Cats came away with a 76-75 win on Senior Night to close out the 2024-25 regular season. 



Alcorn State finished the regular season 11-19, with all eleven wins coming in SWAC play. The Braves finished the year with back-to-back wins over Arkansas - Pine Bluff and Mississippi Valley State.

In two meetings with the Wildcats this year, Alcorn led wire-to-wire, including a road win at Moore Gymnasium, 78-74, and a win in Lorman, 70-61. Alcorn State has never trailed in each of their previous four meetings with the Wildcats. They have won six straight and all but one game in the series since the Wildcats joined the conference in 2021. 

The Braves did not receive any All-Conference postseason accolades, finishing second-to-last in the conference at 65 points per game offensively. On the other side, they were the SWAC's fourth-best defense, allowing 72 points per game. 

The Braves shot 41 percent from the floor as a team and 32 percent from three as a team, both ranking in the bottom half of the conference. They did shoot 72 percent from the free throw line, though only getting to the line the third-fewest times in the conference. Alcorn State recorded the third-best rebounding margin in the conference, just under even on the year with similar stats to B-CU in the category. 

Only one Brave ranks in the SWAC's top 15 in points per game - sophomore point guard Jalyke Gaines-Wyatt. He averaged 11 points per game. Two other Braves averaged in double figures, with both Marcus Tankersley and Keionte Cornelius sitting just over 10 points per game - Cornelious doing it off the bench. On the boards, senior center Djahi Binet led the SWAC in rebounding, averaging nearly eight per game. 



Saturday marks the 10th meeting all-time between B-CU and Alcorn State. B-CU has won just twice in the series - once in 1966, the other in their second-ever meeting with the Braves as conference mates, a 71-63 win on the road in 2022. 



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