CLINTON, SC – FAMU basketball came to South Carolina looking for its first win and it got it on Wednesday night.
FAMU got a big lead and managed to fight off a fierce rally as it came away with a 65-60 win over Presbyterian College.
“We got off to a good start,” FAMU head coach Robert McCallum said. “Our defense was just outstanding, was one of the better offensive halves we’ve had all year scored 40, 41, 42 points in the first half. We had a number of guys to really, really contribute. And I feel from the from the start that we had an advantage inside.”
The Rattlers shot a sizzling 65.2 percent from the field in the first half to take a 41-32 lead into halftime. A 10-0 run to start the second half would stretch the lead to 51-32 with 14:56 to go in the game.
Presbyterian went on a 29-9 run over the next 13-plus minutes to cut the lead to 61-60 with 1:55. FAMU’s Keith Lamar hit a layup to stretch the lead to three and a pair of free throws in the final seconds to pick up the program’s first win of the season.
FAMU got a big boost from guard Love Bettis. The former North Carolina A&T guard scored a game-high 22 points off the bench, hitting 6 of 12 field goal attempts on the night.
“This is only Love’s third game of the season playing off the bench and I thought he was outstanding.”
Florida A&M will return home Saturday to face LeMoyne-Owen College.