DOVER (January 24, 2009) ? A second half rally led by Bethune-Cookman's C.J. Reed guided the Wildcats (10-9, 4-2 MEAC) to a 60-56 win over the Delaware State Hornets (4-16, 2-3 MEAC) on Saturday, Jan. 24 at Memorial Hall.
Leading by 12 points with 16:32 left in the game, DSU was out-scored 38-12 for the remainder of the contest to lead to the 60-56 defeat. Reed scored 14 of his 16 total points in the second half, leading all Wildcat scorers.
"I thought in the last 12 minutes of the game, they wanted it more than we did," said Head Coach Greg Jackson. "We played well enough to lose this game tonight. I thought Bethune-Cookman did a lot of things to take away things that we like to do. They deserved to win this game. They out-hustled us. The last couple of minutes they got every loose ball and if you don't get loose you don't win ballgames."
The Hornets finished the night, shooting 51.4 percent from the floor (19-of-37), including 4-of-16 (25.0 percent) from 3-point land. Despite shooting well from the floor, DSU struggled from the free-throw line, shooting 14-of-21 (8-of-14 in the second half). Bethune-Cookman, which struggled in the first half, shooting just 27.3 percent (6-of-22), finished the night converting 43.5 percent (20-of-46) from the floor.
Delaware State, which held a lead for nearly 32 minutes, was led by Arturo Dubois and Marcus Neal, who poured in 18 each points versus the Wildcats. Dubois shot 7-of-9 from the floor (4-of-5 from the free-throw line) and registered two boards and three assists. Neal, who was 4-for-8 from beyond the 3-point arc, shot 5-of-9 from the floor to tie his career-high in points. Leading the Hornets in rebounds was Frisco Sandidge, who tallied six boards while scoring seven points.
The first half began with DSU taking a 4-0 lead on a layup by Terence Parkes with 16:28 left in the first half. B-CU battled back to tie the scores a 4-all, following a layup by Stanley Elliott at the 13:06 mark. The Hornets then took control of the contest with a 6-0 run, extending their lead to 15-7 on a layup by Dubois with 10:34 left in the half. Delaware State maintain its lead for the rest of the half, leading by as many as nine before the Wildcats chipped away the Hornets' lead as both teams entered halftime with the score, 25-20.
DSU extended its lead to 34-22 on a 3-point field goal by Neal at the 16:32 mark to take the teams' largest lead of the game. However, Reed and the Wildcats responded with a 16-4 run to tie the score a 38-all on a 3-pointer by the B-CU guard with 9:47 left in the game. DSU and Bethune-Cookman exchanged baskets for the next three minutes before the Wildcats went on an 8-0 run to take their largest lead of the game, 51-43 (4:13 on the clock). Delaware State was able to pull within two points three times in the final four minutes however, B-CU held on to down the Hornets, 60-56.
The loss marked the teams' third home loss of the season for the Hornets and dropped DSU to 2-3 in MEAC play.
Delaware State will host the Florida A&M Rattlers on Monday, Jan. 26. Tip off is slated for 7:30 p.m.
