By ALEXANDER LOMONACO
Sports Information Intern
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Jan. 21) - “Wire-to-wire" is a sports saying that signifies a great performance by a team from start to finish.
That is what happened Monday, as the FAMU Men's basketball team rolled past Delaware State, 60-47, in a game that they never trailed in.
The Rattlers all season have prided themselves on their defensive effort and that effort on the defensive end showed up on the box score, holding the visiting Hornets to just under 29% shooting from the field.
“We are not a seventy-five point per game kind of team and that is what coaching basketball is about, finding out who your team is and what they do best in order to win games” is what head coach Robert McCullum said after the game.
The Rattlers are not a prolific scoring offensive team, but they score enough points to win games due to their commitment to holding their opponent's scoring to among of the lowest within the conference.
“What truly makes our defense work so well is our switching, most of the times we run a line up so versatile we can switch from the one (point guard) to the four (power forward) on most of our line ups. But when D.J (Jones) is out there playing center we can actually switch from the one to the five (center)” stated McCullum.
On the offensive end, it was business as usual for FAMU leading scorer Justin Ravenel, leading all players in scoring with 21 points.
However, for most of the game his shot was not falling despite getting his usual good looks from the perimeter, shooting only 4 for 12 from three point range, but it was the other starting guard, Kamron Reaves, who shouldered the load offensively, and for most of the game was the leading scorer for the Rattlers, finishing with 18 points.
It was Reaves who would consistently hit tough mid-range jumpers as time was expiring on the shot clock, and find a way to remain efficient on the court, shooting 7 for 12 from the field, including 3 for 4 from three-point range.
“I hit my first shot and that is always good,” said Reaves after the game. Ravenel, the usual focus of the other team's defense, seemed elated to have one of his teammates become a contributor, “They're going to have to defend more than one guy when they play against us”.
FAMU's next game is in Baltimore against Coppin State next Saturday. After being reminded of the frigid temperature in Maryland, coach McCullum had some comments to say about the government shutdown effecting his team.
“We have heard that Baltimore is one of the places most effected by the shutdown, with TSA workers calling in sick while they are not getting paid, we hear the lines are ridiculous because of the lack of workers so our 3:30 am wakeup call might become a 2:30 am wakeup call in order to beat the lines at security.”
Given that Monday was Martlin Luther King Jr day, both Reaves and Ravenel were asked what today meant to the them. Ravenel said “Today is a special day. It is important to listen to MLK's message, instead of building walls we should be building bridges”.
Reaves followed up with some sentiment as well, “If we did not have a game today I know we would have been doing community service instead”.
The Rattlers (6-14, 3-2 MEAC) will play their next two games on the road next weekend against Coppin State (Saturday – 4:00 p.m.), and Morgan State (Monday – 7:30 p.m).
