The Florida A&M University Rattlers defeated the Tuskegee University Tigers 83-62 in their first home exhibition game in the Al Lawson Multipurpose Teaching Center and Gymnasium.
The starting five players for the Rattlers were junior guard Christopher Walker, senior guard Brandon Bryant, sophomore guard David Buchanon, junior forward Larry Jackson, and sophomore forward Yannick Crowder.
Dale Hughes led the team with 15 points, and Crowder and Walker chipped in with 13 and 10 points respectively. Jackson led the team in rebounds with eight and Crowder had a productive night and added seven rebounds.
Crowder was in dominant force throughout the game and still gave praise to his teammates at the end of the night.
“I noticed that personal stats don’t really help with the game, if you win, work together and work hard, the stats are going to come,” Crowder said. “So it’s all about teamwork.”
Although Crowder had a very productive game, he feels that much work needs to be done and as he puts it, he and the team have a “long way to go.”
The game was a little closer in the first half and the coaching staff made some adjustments to increase the lead in the second half. The Rattlers started the second half on a 20-10 run and head coach Eugene Harris was impressed with the way his team adapted.
“I asked the team not to gamble on defense and keep their man in front of them,” Harris said. “When you keep your man in front of you, you won’t have defensive breakdowns. So that was the one thing we worked on, and keeping the ball out of the high-post, stopping the high-post pass.”
Harris also got big minutes from Isaac Brown off the bench. He was pleased with Brown’s production, stating that he was “steady at the point.”
Coach Harris added, “I really liked his play, and he only played 12 minutes.”
Coach was also pleased with Hughes’ efficiency.
“He scored 15 points in 20 minutes, he had three steals and what I was impressed with is that he didn’t have any turnovers,” Coach Harris said. “So I thought he was a big plus.”
The Rattlers will look to keep the momentum going Saturday, Nov. 14, when they face the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets from the Atlantic Coast Conference. The game will be held in Atlanta and the tip-off is at 7 p.m.