Bethune-Cookman University recently issued the following announcement.
A cold start shooting the ball was too much for the Wildcats to overcome as they fell to the Lions of Arkansas – Pine Bluff, 69-63, Monday night in Arkansas.
How It Happened
The Wildcats (4-12, 2-2 SWAC) struggled on both sides of the ball in the first half, making only nine of 37 field goal attempts – a 24 percent shooting percentage for the half. The Lions (3-15, 1-4 SWAC), on the other hand, shot 51 percent in the half to enter the break up, 34-21.
The rim was friendlier to the Wildcats in the second half, as they shot over 50 percent from the field. The Wildcats closed the game on a 21-13 run to pull as close as four back, but it was too little too late as B-CU fell to UAPB, 69-63.
Dylan Robertson and Marcus Garrett each scored 16 to lead the Wildcats. Joe French and Kevin Davis followed in double figures at 14 and 12 points, respectively. Davis grabbed 13 rebounds and Robertson blocked three shots in the loss.
"When teams come out and play us physical early, we seem take a step back.," Wildcats head coach Reggie Theus said postgame. "It really came down to our inablity to stop them in the first half. Our guys play hard. We like to consider ourself a hit-first team, but those are just words until you go out and do it. We lacked some toughness tonight"
Theus again credited the effort level of his team as the Wildcats look to begin stringing together conference victories.
"I like my team because they play hard. I think we have another level of play that we can go to. We just have to play better. It's not for lack of effort.
Game Notes
- The Wildcats scored 44 points in the paint in the loss.
- UAPB scored 29 points off the bench to B-CU's 4.
- Dequan Morris led UAPB with 20 points – 11 of those points came from the free throw line.
- This is the fifth time this season where four or more Wildcats have scored in double figures in the same game.
The Wildcats return to Daytona Beach for a pair of SWAC matchups this weekend, starting with a matchup with Jackson State University, Saturday Jan. 22 at 4 p.m.
Original source can be found here.