DOVER (January 26, 2009) ? Freshman Jared Grady poured in a career-high 14 points in his first start in a Hornet uniform to lead Delaware State (5-16, 3-3 MEAC) to a 64-58 win over Florida A&M (6-12, 4-3 MEAC) on Monday, Jan. 26 at Memorial Hall. The victory earned DSU its third conference victory of the season and gave Head Coach Greg Jackson his 300th-career win (300-205).
"I thought our kids showed a lot of character, bouncing back from an extremely tough loss on Saturday versus Bethune-Cookman," said Jackson. "I thought we came in with a great game plan and the kids executed, for the most part, all night long. Jared Grady came on and started for us and did an outstanding job. He's a young kid that we have been bringing along and tonight was his time to play and I thought he was the difference in the ball game."
Grady, who came into the game averaging 1.8 points-per-game in six contests, finished the night shooting 6-of-9 form the floor. The Durham, N.C., product, also tallied career-highs in steals (2), assists (2) and rebounds (4). Joining Grady in double-digit scoring was redshirt junior Frisco Sandidge, who notched 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the floor and 5-of-7 shooting from the charity stripe. Sophomore Terrence Parkes registered a season-high nine points on 2-of-2 shooting form the field and 5-fo-6 from the free-throw line.
For the third-straight contest, the Hornets shot over 50 percent for the floor (52.4 percent). Converting on 22-of-42 attempts on the night, DSU shots 35.7 percent from long range (5-of-14) and was 15-of-24 from the free-throw line. The Delaware State defense held Florida A&M to 39.2 percent shooting (20-of-51) from the floor, while forcing 18 turnovers (resulting in 15 points) and registering eight steals. The Rattlers shot 35.0 percent from long range (7-of-20) and converted 11-of-17 shots from the free-throw line.
Leading FAMU Dale Hughes, who finished the night with 12 points on 4-of-10 (4-of-8 from beyond the arc) shooting. Also scoring in double-figures was Larry Jackson who poured in 10 points and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.
Delaware State jumped out to an early 5-0 lead, following a 3-pointer by Marcus Neal with 18:10 left in the first half. FAMU battled back to take its first lead of the contest (6-5) on a 3-pointer by David Buchanon at the 15:48 mark in the first half. After buckets, FAMU held on to a slight lead for nearly seven minutes before DSU regained the lead, 21-19, after a pair of made free-throws by Parkes with 8:21 left in the half. A 12-4 run by Delaware State gave the Hornets their largest lead of the half (10) capped off by Kris Douse layup with a 1:14 left in the half. The Rattlers scored the final points of the half on a pair of free-throws by Cecil Bent, as DSU entered halftime with a 33-25 lead.
The Hornets out-shot the Rattlers 58.3 percent to 37.5 percent in the first 20 minutes, forcing 13 turnovers, resulting in 13 Delaware State points.
DSU maintained its lead through the first six minutes of the second half before a 3-pointer by Hughes tied the contest for the fourth time, 37-37. Both Delaware State and Florida A&M exchanged buckets and the lead for the next 12 minutes until a 9-2 run extended DSU's lead to 60-53 with 2:28 left in the game. Florida A&M tried to chip away at the Hornet lead, cutting it to 60-58 with 1:04 on the game clock. Free-throws by Sandidge, Grady and Parkes sealed the win for the Hornets, 64-58.
The win evens the series history between the two teams, 31-31, snapping a three-game losing skid to the Rattlers.
Delaware State will host the Coppin State Eagles on Saturday, Jan. 31. Tip off is slated for 4:00 p.m.
