Hot-shooting Rattlers come up with second straight win
Photo courtesy FAMU athletics
Special to the Outlook
A little bit of a reprieve from the top-heavy schedule has proven to be good for the FAMU men’s basketball team. After going winless in their first five games, the Rattlers put together a two-game winning streak.
Their most recent win was a 108-78 blitz of the LeMoyne-Owen Magicians at Lawson Center last Saturday.
The Rattlers will get a break before facing Iowa on Saturday to start a four-game road trip that will be followed by the opening of conference play. They face Iowa State on Sunday, then on Dec. 21 they go against Central Florida in Orlando. That will be followed by the final game on the non-conference part of their schedule against University of South Carolina in Columbia.
The Rattlers will have a one-week break before starting play in the Southwestern Athletic Conference on Jan. 6 against Bethune-Cookman in Daytona.
With Saturday’s win, FAMU improved to 2-5 overall. The Magicians fell to 4-5.
The Rattler put on one of their hottest shooting demonstration, hitting 50 percent from long range against the Division I program from the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
Six FAMU players score in double figures, led by Hantz Louis-Jeune’s 19 points and four assists. Ja’Derryus Eatmon came off the bench to score 15 points, while K’Jei Parker added a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds.
FAMU’s offense was productive from deep, making nine threes on 18 attempts. Parker was the most prolific shooter for the Rattlers, draining three treys in the contest.
The Rattlers defense held LeMoyne-Owen shooters to 37.8 percent from the field, including 29.4 percent from three-point range. The Rattlers also kept Micah Evans to 3-of-12 shooting and eight points in the game.
FAMU had to rally from a 14-13 deficit before taking control with a 5-0 run and went on to close the half with a 48-41 lead at the break. The Rattlers did most of their first half damage in the paint, scoring 24 first-half points close to the basket.
FAMU used a 12-0 run early in the second half to begin putting the game out of reach.
