March 12, 2008

Final Stats |  Florida A&M vs. Maryland Eastern Shore (2008 MEAC Men's Basketball Opening Round Game) 

RALEIGH, N.C. - The Florida A&M Men's Basketball Team advanced in the 2008 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Basketball Tournament with a 70-61 win over the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, here Wednesday afternoon at the RBC Center.

"It was a good win for our basketball team tonight," said Head Coach Eugene Harris.

FAMU (15-16) was paced by Lamar Twitty as he picked up his sixth double-double of the season with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Both Leslie Robinson and Akini F. Akini finished with 13 points a piece, while Byron Taylor finished with a game high nine assists.

An Akini field goal at the 5:49 mark gave the Rattlers a 22-12 lead, capping a 10-4 run.

FAMU would lead UMES 32-20 at the break. The Rattlers finished the first half shooting 38.7 percent (12-of-31) from the field, while the Hawks shot 33.3 percent (9-of-27).

UMES would begin the second half with a 10-5 run, capped off by a Marc David free throw with 15:29 remaining, cutting FAMU's lead to 37-30, then the Hawks made an 8-3 run to cut the Rattlers' lead to 40-38, on a Denzel Jackson field goal with 11:09 to go in the game.

FAMU would answer with a 9-1 run, capped off by a Twitty layup with 7:31 to go, giving the Rattlers a 49-39 lead.

The Rattlers would then extend their lead to 15 points on a Robinson trey with 5:56 left to go in the game, making the score 56-41 in favor of FAMU. That shot would prove to be the proverbial dagger in the heart as FAMU went on to win 70-61.

UMES (4-28) was led by Ed Tyson with a season high 28 points, followed Marc Davis with 12 points and seven rebounds.

FAMU will face No. three-seed Norfolk State, tomorrow at 6 p.m. at the RBC Center in quarterfinal action.