With 25 points, six rebounds, three assists and one steal, junior guard Terrance Woods led the Rattlers (6-6, 2-2 MEAC) to an exciting win over the Howard Bison Monday night. The 75-64 win puts the team at .500 overall for the first time since 1992.
Despite the fact that Woods led the team in scoring and rebounds, Rattler head coach Mike Gillespie named Demarcus Wilkins as the team’s most valuable player. With ten assists and four rebounds, Wilkins exemplified what the team has been working on the entire season, teamwork. “I really wasn’t trying to do anything great,” Wilkins said.
The game began well for the Rattlers. With16:46 remaining in the first half, Woods hit a clean three-point shot off a Wilkins assist to increase the Rattler lead to six. On the next play, Bison guard Ron Williams turned the ball over into the hands of Dominique Jackson. Woods in turn took a feed from Wilkins to hit his second three-pointer as FAMU’s lead stretched to 9-0.
Howard had trouble on both sides of the ball throughout the game, trailing at times by as many as 16 points. The Bison shot 41.5 percent for the game and 33.3 percent from outside the three-point arc. Sophomore guard Mac Wilkinson led the team with 18 points and six rebounds.
“FAMU is a really talented offensive team. We fell behind early and never could get over it,” said Bison head coach Frankie Allen.
Although his team did not win the game, Allen seemed satisfied by his team’s performance. “There were a few individual situations that I would have improved upon but other than that I wasn’t disappointed.”
The Bison got their first score of the game at 16:05 when Kyle Williams made an open jump shot. On the next play Woods hit his third consecutive three-point shot off of another assist from Wilkins to make the score 12-2.
Perhaps the most spectacular play of the game came late it the second half. Pressured by two defenders, junior guard Moses White showed his ball handling skills. Faking to the left and right, White shook the two defenders; they were left on the floor of the backcourt as O.J. Sumter hit an easy lay-up off an assist from Woods.
The Rattler victory was clearly a total team effort as Woods and three other Rattlers scored in double digits. Jermaine Hill had 14 points and five rebounds, Michael Griffith had 15 points and four rebounds and O.J. Sumter added 10 points and five rebounds. “Coach stresses every day that in order to win we have to trust one another” Woods said.
Except for the fact that the Rattlers turned the ball over 21 times, Gillespie was proud of his team’s performance. “I thought it was an outstanding team effort; it was a team game and a team victory”