TALLAHASSEE, FL (Feb.4) - The Florida A&M Rattlers got their first win over a Division-I school with a 62-60 squeaker over the North Carolina Central University Eagles back on Jan.7. Today's game would not be a repeat as the Eagles latched on to a methodical dismantling of the Rattlers and didn't relinquish until all the time had run off the clock. In the end, the Eagles would dominate the Rattlers in all aspects of the game to take a 78-61 win at the Alfred Lawson Jr. Multipurpose Center and Teaching Gymnasium.
Yannick Crowder led the Rattlers in scoring with 17 points. Amin Stevens added 15, while Reggie Lewis chipped in 10 points. Stevens completed the double-double with 11 rebounds. Crowder continued his impressive pace with four blocked shots.
The Rattlers were done in by poor shooting, and what head coach Clemon Johnson described as poor effort. "We just didn't put forth the effort tonight. It's a team still trying to grow up and it caught us. We kind of went through the motions for 35 minutes tonight and played for five minutes. I told them in the locker room we were playing like we were hoping to win...not playing to win," A disappointed Johnson said.
The Rattlers probably could not have played any worse. They shot 14-for-25 (56 percent) from the field in the first half and 6-for-24 (25 percent) in the second half for a game total of 40.8 percent. The stats from the three-point line were dismal as well. The team shot 3-for-17 from three-point range, to finish with 17.6 percent for the game.
The Eagles were led by a one-two punch of Ray Willis and Dominique Sutton. Willis finished as the game's high scorer with 25 points, while Sutton finished with 23. Jeremy Ingram and nick Chasten finished with 10 points each, marking a foursome of players in double figures scoring. Willis completed a double-double with 10 rebounds on the night.
There were several statistical factors that contributed to the poor showing. The Rattlers gave up 18 turnovers in the game. NCCU converted those turnovers to 17 points.
Crowder said the mentality of the team coming out in the second half was focused on defense. "We felt like we were down, so we needed to come out and play some good defense, rebound the ball and do the little things. Not necessarily shooting, but put ourselves back in the game doing the little things," he said.
Stevens felt frustrated by the defense thrown at the Rattlers. " I felt like I was getting double-teamed in the post. I felt like I was getting fouled and wasn't able to make the shots. I got frustrated because I don't think we were playing hard on defense as a team," he said.
The Rattlers had an opportunity to take sixth place in the MEAC, but will have to settle for seventh and look to get back on the winning track on Monday as they face the Aggies of North Carolina A&T University at 7:30 p.m.
