FAMU held Prairie View A&M to shooting only 20 percent behind the three-point line in a 3-for-15 shooting performance, but still fell short to the Panthers 61-58 at home Monday.
Coach Robert McCullum spoke about the disappointing conference loss.
“Prairie View is a difficult team to prepare for from the standpoint that it can make a case that the preps are more different this year because they are a smaller team,” McCullum said.
The Rattlers had two players in double figures, led by senior forward Shannon Grant, who put up 15 points, six rebounds, and two blocks. Senior guard Jalen Speer had 13 points and six rebounds. The Panthers were led by guard Javontae Hopkins, who had 18 points, and guard Charles Lane Jr., who also had 18 points.
In the beginning of the first half, the Rattlers were falling behind the Panthers 17-12, then they erupted, going on an 8-0 run with 10 minutes left to go in the half, coming off a bucket from Grant to take the 20-17 lead. The Panthers had sparked a run towards the end of the first half, being led by Hopkins, who had made a jump shot, but the Rattlers still had a 29-27 advantage going into halftime. In the first half, the Rattlers showed a lot of focus in going into the paint, scoring 16 of its 29 points.
In the beginning of the second half, the Panthers brought more pressure to the ball on the Rattlers and began to start trapping in a full court press.
“At any point in the backcourt or frontcourt, they are going to trap due to the lack of size of the going man-to-man or straight zone,” McCullum said.
This tended to work out in the Panthers favor as they began to run away a bit in the 2nd half with a 51-43 lead on the Rattlers. As the half started to wind down with 4:55 left to go in the game, the Rattlers went on a 6-0 run, finished off by a three from freshman guard K’Jei Parker. The Panthers made some coaching adjustments and proceeded to take the lead the rest of the way until the final score of 61-58.
In the second half, the Rattlers did have the three-point shot going, scoring 12 of their 29 second-half points from deep.
Coach McCullum said he isn’t disappointed in the effort his team showed in this loss.
“Defensively, we didn’t lose that game. On the defensive end, you hold a team to 61 points at home,” McCullum said. “Overall, I was really pleased with the play from a defensive standpoint.”
The Rattlers will look to turn around this four-game losing streak on Saturday as they go on the road to face rival Jackson State!