Rattlers strike back in double overtime

Courtesy of AnneMarie/Rattler Productions

With a wild finish, The Florida A&M University men’s basketball team pulled off a 96-95 double overtime victory against Delaware State University Monday night.

The Rattlers outscored DSU in overtime, finishing with 24 points in the overtime periods. Late in double overtime the rattlers hit two critical three pointers to hold off the hornets.

At half time the Rattlers made some defensive adjustments, and coach Samuels told his players offensively to “share the ball and try to make some tough plays.”

Trailing 86-92 with two minutes and left, senior Jerran Foster came off the bench and hit two back-to-back threes to tie the game.  

“Coach definitely always preaches to stay ready, so I try to always stay in the game and I know my team definitely helped me out,” Foster said. “I know I missed my first one but coach encouraged me, letting me know it was a good shot and I took it from there. I appreciate them trusting."

After the Rattlers hit two big threes, the Hornets came back with a three of their own to take a 95-94 lead. With no timeouts remaining, Bernard drove the ball down the court, eluded two defenders and made a buzzer beating layup while taking on contact from two more defenders.

Bernard converted on 12 of his 15 shots and finished with 27 points, 14 rebounds, six assists and five steals.

“I tried to get to the rim and get it off the board. It bounced our way, we got the W, that’s all that matters,” Bernard said. “At the end of the day winning by one point is all that matter.”

Prior to Monday night’s victory, the Rattlers were on a three -game losing streak.

In the high scoring game, FAMU finished with three players in double figures.  One of them being freshman guard Justin Ravenal, who played a big role from beyond the arc. Ravenal finished with 20 points and 18 of them were three pointers.

Byron Samuels, FAMU men’s basketball head coach, appreciated the win his team clinched but still acknowledged  mistakes that needs to be corrected.

“The team played well, to get this victory; we had been practicing hard,” Samuels said. “We have not had a lot of success, but to shoot 14 of 37 from the free throw line and still come out with a victory, we will take it but certainly is still a lot of room for improvement,” Samuels said.

The Rattlers are now 7-15, 3-6 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. They look to take that  momentum in Saturday’s game as they travel to North Carolina A&T University. Game time is set for 2 p.m.