DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - 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.
B-CU is set to play the No. 6 seed Alcorn State Braves on Thursday, March 13 at 8:30 p.m. at Gateway Center Arena in Atlanta. Fans can book their trip to Atlanta now with a special discounted hotel rate at the official B-CU Fan Block at BCUAthletics.com/Events.
FIRST HALF
Daniel Rozan drained a straightaway three and
Trey Thomas connected on two quick jumpers as Bethune-Cookman (16-15, 13-5 SWAC) and Florida A&M (13-16, 10-8 SWAC) 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.
- The Wildcats wrap up the 2024-25 regular season at 16-15 just one win in the SWAC tournament would guarantee a record over .500 for the first time since the 2017-18 season.
- Kalil Camara set a career-high in scoring with 22 points on 8-14 shooting with five threews, three rebounds, and an assist.
- In his return from injury, Brayon Freeman scored 18 points with five assists.
- Trey Thomas scored 10 with five rebounds.
With the SWAC's No. 3 seed secured, the Wildcats are set to take on No. 6 Alcorn to open the 2025 SWAC Tournament. Tipoff is set for 8:30 p.m. EST on Thursday, March 13 from Gateway Center Arena in Atlanta.
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