Photo courtesy of FAMU Athletics
The Florida A&M men’s basketball team was defeated this previous weekend by the Jackson State Tigers at the Lee E. Williams Athletic and Assembly Center.
The score of the game was 77-55.
These two teams faced off recently at the Al Lawson Center, where the Rattlers came out victorious in a close battle, winning by two points. The Tigers were led by senior guard Chase Adams, who recorded 35 points but was ruled out for this game.
Coach McCullum spoke on their program and strengths before coming into this game.
“It will be more about mental preparation… They have good balance and good backcourt play, so they will be another challenge for us.”
The Rattlers started the game slowly, going down double digits within five minutes of the first half. The offense responded to this run with two quick baskets by 6’10 senior forward Shannon Grant.
The score at the half was 36-28, with FAMU trailing.
Jackson State came out strong in the second half, opening with a 14-5 run, with three back-to-back threes by Keionte Cornelius and Coltie Young. The Tigers went up 23 points with a little less than 12 minutes remaining with a score of 57-34. The lead remained consistent for the remainder of the game, as the lowest the margin reached after that point was 16.
Jackson State was led by Jordan O’Neal, who recorded a double-double with 22 points and 13 rebounds.
Florida A&M was led by Shannon Grant, who recorded 12 points with two blocks, and Jalen Speer, who had 11 points with two steals.
Coach McCullum was addressed about how these previous few games have affected the team’s mental, and what they have been doing to change the course of their future.
“It becomes extremely frustrating, but you go back and watch film, and you try to locate specifically what went wrong, and what didn’t go well.”
This game extends the losing slump for the Rattlers to five games and puts them at 2-10 in the conference play.
Starting freshman guard K’Jei Parker gave his thoughts about what they have to do to get back on track.
“We just have to come out and fight; we’re fighting adversity right now. Everybody has to buy in because we are all playing sluggish right now.”
FAMU will play at Alcorn State in a SWAC doubleheader on Monday. Women tip off at 6:30, and men follow at 8:30.