TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Jan. 12) - It was a joyous and electric atmosphere for the hometown RattlerS in the Lawson center early Saturday evening as the men’s basketball team defeated conference foe Savannah State, 69-64.
It was a chippy and fast faced game due to the fact Savannah State ran a mix between full court and half court traps forcing FAMU to commit 16 turnovers.
FAMU Coach Robert McCullum said after the game he tries always to prepare his team to play a team that applies so much constant pressure and he understood that turnovers would be a lingering part of their winning game plan.
The Rattlers countered Savannah’s tenacious defense with suffocating defense of their own; holding SSU to 36% field goal percentage from the field, including 9 for 34 from three point range.
FAMU also outrebounded the Tigers by 8 and many of those rebounds were key offensive rebounds down the stretch that kept the possession alive and allowed the Rattlers to dribble away more precious time, as SSU desperately tried to claw their way back into the game.
What kept the Tigers in the game at the end was the FAMU’s poor percentage at the free throw line, going 13-for21 as a team in total.
Coach McCullum brought up the team’s lackluster free throw showing without being prompted by a reporter and mentioned how the team needs to do better and that “62% will not get the job done all the time”.
However, sitting next to the coach at the press conference were the Rattlers’ two biggest contributors of the game: center Isaiah Martin and guard Justin Ravenel. The two players were the highest scoring players in the game and combined for 34 of FAMU’s 69 total points.
The seven-foot Martin said after the game that he could sense he was in store for a great performance: “When we were warming up I looked at the other side and I saw that nobody on their team was as tall as me so I knew there was a good chance I would be able to score consistently.”
And score consistently is what he did, going 7 for 8 from the field with his only miss being an alley oop attempt that hit back iron when he tried to slam.
Unfortunately, due to foul trouble Martin was not able to play most of the second half, that is where his teammate Ravenel played his role to carry his team to the finish line; leading all players with 19 total points,on 5 for 12 from three-point land.
Whenever it felt like Savannah was about to make a run back into the game, Ravenel would find a way to hit a dagger long shot to keep the Tigers at arm's length on the scoreboard.
In addition to Ravenel’s 19 points, FAMU got a double double from, Martin, who finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman M.J. Randolph added 11 points, and sophomore Kamron Reaves scored 10 points.
FAMU (5-13, 2-1 MEAC), and will look to improve on their winning record in MEAC next Saturday at home against Maryland Eastern. Tip off will be 4:00 p.m.
