The Florida A&M basketball teams will travel to Daytona Beach, Florida for their final games of the regular season against Bethune-Cookman ahead of the Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament in Atlanta, March 11-15.
Both FAMU’s men’s and women’s basketball teams will glide into the tournament due to the new 10-team format recently adopted by the SWAC. Previously, the top eight seeds in the standings after the last regular season game would qualify for the tournament. That number has been boosted to ten.
This is not the only change the conference has made. The tournament has moved to Atlanta to increase visibility and enhance the game environment. The tournament was previously held in Atlanta back in 2021 in efforts to ensure safety for the teams and attendees due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2019, the tournament has been held at the Bartow Arena in Birmingham, Alabama.
The women’s basketball team is tied for the eighth seed along with Bethune Cookman, each with a 6-11 record in the SWAC.
At the top of the SWAC is Southern University.
The FAMU’s women’s team has struggled this season with closing games. Out of the 11 losses in the SWAC, seven have been fourth quarter losses by five or less points.
Women’s head coach Bridgette Gordon expressed her thoughts during Saturday’s postgame press conference, saying that what is perfected in practice is not showing on the court when it matters.
The tournament is a chance for the ladies to show that they can finish against the teams they fell to in the regular season.
The men’s basketball team, led by head coach Patrick Crarey III will finish with a winning record in SWAC play for the first time since the 2020-2021 season. The team is the seventh seed and is currently 10-7 in conference play ahead of BCU.
The Rattlers almost beat the top seeded Jaguars on Monday but fell 73-70 in the final seconds. Following the game, Crarey felt confident in his team, based off of their performance, for games to come.
“We knew we’d be ready for them,” Crarey said. “I think we’ll be more ready for them when we play them again in Atlanta.”
Although confident, Crarey also emphasized the importance of missed points equating to missed possessions.
Saturday is the final chance for the Rattlers to rise in the rankings ahead of the tournament. Both teams are not new to each other’s game, though, as they opened SWAC play Jan. 4.
The women’s team sent the Wildcats home with a loss, while the men could not close out the game. The stakes are higher than ever now for men’s basketball as the BCU men’s team is the third seed in the SWAC.
The Bethune Cookman basketball programs have been no stranger to SWAC awards this season. Junior guard Trey Thomas took home his fifth SWAC weekly honor of the season, this one being Player of the Week after his star performance in wins of both Southern and Grambling.
Asianae Nicholson, a junior playing forward for the women’s team, was named Co-Newcomer of the Week as she ranks second in the nation for double doubles on the year.
The last doubleheader of the regular Rattler basketball season takes place on Saturday, March 8th in Daytona Beach, Fl. The women tipoff at 3 p.m. and the men take the floor at 5:30 p.m.
Both games will be streamed on BCU’s ‘The CatEye Network’.