The Florida A&M men's basketball team lost to the Delaware State University Hornets 57-48 on Monday night inside the Al Lawson Jr. Multipurpose Center, ending a two-game win streak.
The Rattlers (6-15, 3-4 MEAC) found themselves down seven with 3:42 remaining in the first half. However, the team would respond and cut the deficit to three heading into intermission. FAMU forward Jamari Bradshaw, a junior from Louisville, Ky.,led all scorers at the break with 10 of his game-high 18 points.
FAMU continued its run to start the second half and jumped out to a 27-22 advantage after a Reggie Lewis layup. Lewis, a junior guard from Cleveland, would finish the night with 15 points.
The Hornets (9-10, 4-1 MEAC) continued their streak as well, going scoreless from the field during a six-minute stretch to begin the second half. DSU missed its first five shot attempts and turned the ball over twice during that span.
The Rattlers led by eight with less than 11 minutes left in regulation before Tahj Tate heated up. The DSU guard scored 12 of the Hornets' next 20 points and finished the game with 16 points, two assists and three steals.
The Rattlers tied the Hornets on a tip-in with 4:54 remaining but struggled to close the game, scoring just five points the rest of the way.
"We're still trying to learn how to finish ball games," head coach Clemon Johnson said. "That's our shortcoming right now. Tonight, we were just unable to finish."
FAMU held a 35-26 rebounding advantage over the Hornets but turned the ball over 17 times and shot half as many free throws as DSU.
"I think we did a good job," Lewis said. "It's just little things like loose balls, second-chance points [and] turnovers. That's what cost us the game."
The Rattlers will travel to Daytona Beach to play Bethune-Cookman University on Saturday at 4 p.m.