Feb. 25, 2008

Final Stats

DOVER, Del. - The Florida A&M Rattlers kept their faint hopes of a Top Five finish in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference alive here Monday night, as they bounced Delaware State, 70-58 in Alumni Hall.

Monday's win clinched the first season sweep by FAMU (11-16, 7-7 in MEAC) of DelState in several years, while completing a two-game sweep of this weekend's road swing, after a narrow 62-60 win Saturday at Maryland-Eastern Shore.

The Rattlers won their third straight against the Hornets including the 58-56 win in the MEAC Tournament title game last March, taking advantage of poor second half shooting by Delaware State.

FAMU was able to overcome a 29-28 halftime deficit with a sizzling 42-29 outbreak down the stretch, thanks to the Hornets' second half cold streak.

DelState (12-14, 9-5 in MEAC) held a 29-28 lead at the half, but left the defense and offensive intensity in the locker room as the Rattlers opened the second half with 11-0 run and took a 10 point 39-29 lead with 17:28 left.

The Hornets did manage to cut the lead to one 47-46, when Donald Johnson was fouled on a three-point attempt and made all three free throws with 9:00 minutes left.

At that point the Rattlers took advantage of poor shooting and out hustled the Hornets down the stretch.

The Hornets shot 26.5% (9-34) from the floor in the second half, including 2 of 12 (16.7%) from behind the arc. On the other side, the Rattlers shot a blazing 61.1% (11-18) from the floor in the second half.

The Hornets finished with two players in double figures led by Roy Bright with 22 and Johnson added 16 points.

Pacing the Ratters was Leslie Robinson who led all scorers with 24 and Lamar Twitty added 18 points and a game high 11 rebounds, giving him his fifth double-double of the season.