January 10, 2009

Boxscore

TALLAHASSEE, FLA. - Joe Ballard tallied 21 of his game-high 28 in the second half and extra period, but it was freshman David Buchanon's 14 points in overtime that proved to be the difference  as Florida A&M University held off Howard, 79-74 in a wild and wooly affair at Gaither Gymnasium.

After sophomore guard Kyle Riley sank two free throws to tie the game at 61-all and send it into an extra period, Buchanon  took over.  Ballard converted two free throws to give FAMU (3-10 overall, 1-1 in the MEAC) a 63-61 lead.  Howard (1-13 overall, 0-2 in the MEAC) countered with a slam dunk by Paul Kirkpatrick off a nice feed by Riley to deadlock the score at 63.

Then Buchanon buried a three pointer from straight on to help the Rattlers regain the lead at 66-63 at the 3:38 mark.  Kiley sank two free throws to get Howard to within, 66-65.  Then Buchanon launched another bomb, this time from the right side to up the margin to 69-65. Brandon Bryant's layup increased the lead to 71-65 and Buchanon was at it again, hitting a three ball from the left side and giving FAMU its biggest lead at 74-65 with 2:15 left in overtime.

A monster dunk by Riley and two free throws by Eugene Myatt helped the Bison close the deficit to 74-69 with 37 ticks left on the clock.  Buchanon then made one of two free throws, but Howard remained close as Myatt scored on a tip-in and C.J. Prince buried a long three pointer to reduce the margin to 75-74 with 17 seconds left.

Buchanon made good on all four of his free throws to give his team a hard-fought victory.

Despite playing shorthanded with three players not making the trip, including two starters, the Bison had one of their better offensive performances of the year.  Myatt, who is closing in on 1,000 points in his career, led the way with 22.  Randy Hampton, who has been bothered by a knee injury, added 12.  Riley, who has played well of late, scored all 15 of his points in the second half and overtime.  That included two dunks on some helpless Rattler that drew some excitement from the Rattler faithful.

Curtis White tallied all of his 11 points in the first half.  Prince, who was seeing his first action in a Bison uniform, scored six points on two three-point shots that helped the Bison rally.

NEXT UP: Howard remains in the Sunshine state and will take on the Wildcats of Bethune-Cookman University on Monday at 7:30 pm at Moore Gymnasium.

In the first half, Howard controlled the tempo of the game.  Through the first five minutes of the second half, the Bison played well and opened a 13-pint margin.  But the Rattlers went to a fullcourt press to take advantage of the Bison lack of a true point guard.  It resulted in 14 second half turnovers that FAMU converted into 18 points.