TALLAHASSEE, Fla. ? The Florida A&M men’s basketball team turned in a scorching shooting performance and dominated the boards to knock off Morgan State Saturday night at Gaither Gymnasium.

The win was the third straight for the Rattlers (5-10, 3-1 in MEAC), vaulting them into a four-way tie for first place in the league with Morgan State, Bethune-Cookman and Hampton, all at 3-1 in conference play.

Junior Brandon Bryant led FAMU with 16 points, followed by freshman Yannick Crowder with 10 points and seven rebounds. Joe Ballard added nine points with Larry Jackson chipping in with eight points.

Morgan State (8-9, 3-1) was paced by Reggie Holmes with 16 points and Jermaine Bolden with 11. Troy Smith had nine points and Marquise Kately tossed in eight for the Bears.

Both clubs shot 50 percent from the floor in the opening half, but FAMU edged out Morgan for a one-point lead, 27-26 at intermission.

In the second half, the Rattlers shot 57.9 percent to Morgan’s 25 percent from the floor, but 10 second half turnovers kept the Bears in the game, as FAMU nipped them on points, 36-32.

The Rattlers built a seven-point lead at 35-28 on a Crowder dunk with 16:03 left, but Morgan went on an 11-3 run, taking a one-point advantage on a tip-in by Rico Myles with 12:31 left.

The game see-sawed back-and-forth with four ties over the next seven minutes, before Joe Ballard’s layup with 3:45 remaining put FAMU ahead,56-54. Crowder followed with a jumper in the paint at the 2:36 mark for a 58-54 FAMU lead.

Reggie Holmes cashed in a 3-pointer with 19 seconds on the clock to pull the Bears close once more at 59-58, but Larry Jackson (0:16) and Brandon Bryant (0:01) each hit a pair of free throws for the final margin.

WHAT’S NEXT: FAMU hosts the Coppin State Eagles Monday at 7:30 p.m. in Gaither Gymnasium in the final game of their four-game MEAC home stand.