The Rattlers opened the basketball season with a victory over the Tuskegee University Golden Tigers 83-62 Friday in the debut of the team in the Al Lawson Multipurpose Center.
The team looked impressive in the victory, making 30 of 64 shot attempts. The Rattlers also shot a high percentage from the three-point line.
They made 50 percent of their three-point attempts, making eight shots on 16 attempts.
Senior guard Brandon Bryant is picking up from where he left off last season where he made 46 three-point attempts for the Rattlers. He continued to display a hot hand on Friday.
Bryant, along with sophomore guards David Buchanon and Dale Hughes, accounted for six of the eight three-pointers made for FAMU (they all made 2 three’s each).
Bryant finished the game with eight points, Buchanon had six, and Hughes came off the bench and led the Rattlers in scoring with 15 points in just 20 minutes of play.
Bryant showed on Friday that he has no problem shooting from long range, he led the team with five three-point attempts on Friday night.
He gets his shooting confidence from his teammates and coaches, who all insist that he keeps shooting.
“Coach told me to stay with it, just keep shooting,” Bryant said. “He said just let it go, don’t think about it.”
Success on the basketball court is all about preparation for Bryant and the Rattlers. He and his teammates work hard during the off-season and the results show on game day.
“It’s just repetition, shooting everyday,” Bryant said. “Getting shots up, shooting 250 shots everyday like my coaches told me.”
Even when Bryant is struggling to find his shot, his teammates expect him to continue to shoot and get out of whatever slump he may be in.
“I just stay with it, my teammates keep encouraging me,” Bryant said. “It’s all about confidence, they keep me going.”
Head coach Eugene Harris was obviously pleased with his team in the victory, but he feels that they are just scratching the surface and they can still improve in areas.
Harris was also impressed with redshirt freshman guard Isaac Brown and sophomore forward Yannick Crowder.
Harris also thought Bryant showed great skill even without the ball.
“I thought Brandon Bryant did a good job on defense,” Harris said.
He has high expectations of his team and he said, “Bryant’s got to get his shooting percentage up.”
The Rattlers will play Georgia Tech on Saturday and will be looking to Bryant and the rest of the Rattlers backcourt to continue to dial from long-range.
If Harris gets what he wants and Bryant improves his shooting percentage, the Rattlers may have a great chance at knocking off Georgia Tech from the ACC.