Wildcats Advance with 64-53 Victory over Florida A&M
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., March 9, 2010 - Bethune-Cookman's CJ Reed tossed in a game-high 23 points and handed out five assists to lead the Wildcats to a 64-53 victory over Florida A&M in opening-round action of the 2010 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament Tuesday at the Joel Coliseum.
Coach Clifford Reed's team, the seventh seed, also got 12 points and eight rebounds from Stanley Elliott and 10 points from Kevin Dukes in the victory, which lifted B-CU to 17-15 and propelled the Wildcats into Wednesday's quarterfinal against second-seeded Delaware State. Tipoff is set for 9:30 p.m. The B-CU win also avenged a 69-64 loss to the Rattlers five days ago in Tallahassee.
B-CU's Reed called the matchup between the two Florida schools in the MEAC tough and hard-fought.
"It was a hard-fought victory," Reed said. "We knew it would be that way because both our games against Florida A&M were very close and we had just lost to them on Thursday (Mar. 4). We played extremely hard from a defensive stand point and made some adjustments from our game five days ago that helped us."
Florida A&M, the tenth-seed, ended its campaign at 9-22. The Rattlers were led by Brandon Bryant with 11 points. Rasheem Jenkins and Christopher Walker added 10 points each in the loss.
B-CU, ahead 33-23 at the half, saw its lead shrink to five three times in the second half, the last time at 44-39 when Travis Wallace got a layup for the Rattlers with 10:23 remaining.
Wildcat reserve Albert Abrahams answered with a layup at the 10:06 mark, triggering a 10-2 run that gave B-CU a 54-41 cushion and its biggest lead of the contest with 4:22 on the clock.
FAMU, using the long ball, closed the gap to seven twice, the final time at 58-51 on a layup by Larry Jackson, but by that time, only 54 seconds remained. Coach Eugene Harris' team was outscored 6-2 the rest of the way.
"I thought when my team took the court, we were ready to play," Harris said after the contest. "But we had some untimely turnovers that put us in a hole early and we never recovered."
The Wildcats broke away from a 7-7 deadlock in the first half with a 20-11 run that put Reed's team ahead 27-18 with 4:04 left in the opening period. The Rattlers closed to within four, 27-23 on five straight points by Walker before B-CU closed out the period with a 6-0 run to take a 33-23 advantage to the locker room.
Florida A&M enjoyed a slight edge on the boards - 39-37, but committed 17 turnovers to just seven for Bethune-Cookman which had 18 points off turnovers to just a single point off miscues for the Rattlers.
Simpson, Porter Combine to Lead NC A&T Past Howard
Winston-Salem, N.C., March 10, 2010 - Nic Simpson came off the bench to score a game-high 21 points and James Porter added 12 in a reserve capacity as North Carolina A&T defeated Howard, 65-55 in the opening round of the 2010 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament at the Joel Coliseum. The Aggies (11-21), the Number 9 seed, advance to the quarterfinal round where they will face Morgan State, the Number 1 seed on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
The Bison (7-25), the Number 8 seed, swept North Carolina A&T during the regular season by jumping out to early leads. They appeared to have the same formula when they bolted out to a 9-2 lead to start the game.
That is when the Aggies went to their bench. Simpson and Porter helped fuel a 19-9 rally that would erase a nine-point deficit and give NC A&T a 31-30 advantage at the half and more importantly the momentum.
"The first two times that we played them, we were a bit lethargic," said N.C. A&T head coach Jerry Eaves. "We wanted to make sure that we attacked the basket and got to the foul line. The bottom line is that this is the best effort that we have had in a long time"
Howard head coach Gil Jackson echoed Eaves sentiments.
"We had problems with their dribble drive all night," said Jackson. "It caused some defensive breakdowns and we do not usually do that. I thought that they played with a lot of energy and they made it difficult for us offensively at times."
The N.C. A&T defense forced Howard to miss 22 of its 29 shots taken in the second half, including 11 from beyond the arc. The Aggies also made the Bison pay by going to the foul line 31 times in the second half.
Simpson did most of his damage with slashes to the basket and soft floaters over outstretched hands. Porter was effective in the post area, connecting on 3 of 4 from the field while going to the charity stripe 11 times.
"He (Simpson) did not play that way in our first two games," said Howard senior guard Curtis White, who finished with 12 points on 4 of 6 shooting from the three-point line. "He was very aggressive in getting into the lane and getting to the basket."
Senior center Paul Kirkpatrick had one of his best games in recent weeks with 12 points and 5 rebounds. Freshman Dadrian Collins chipped in with 10 points. Sophomore guard Calvin Thompson, who averaged 21.5 points and 10.5 rebounds in the two wins during the regular season, tallied 9 points and 6 rebounds before his shoulder popped out and thus rendered him ineffective the second half.
In addition to the scoring of Simpson and Porter, Thomas Coleman was a factor with 9 points and 14 rebounds.
The Aggies also lost both times they faced the Bears during the regular season. Eaves feels that it is going to be a tall challenge for his team.
"They are super consistent," said Eaves. "Todd (Bozeman) has done a tremendous job. We had opportunities both times, but they proved to be resilient. It is going to be a great ballgame and we will have to play our A-plus game if we are to have a chance to win."
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