TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – North Carolina Central University and Florida A&M went back and forth in the second half, but the Rattlers were able to hold off the Eagles for a 65-56 final score at the Lawson Center on Saturday, Feb. 10.
 
FAMU (5-22, 4-7 MEAC) controlled the early stages of the contest, and led NCCU (12-12, 6-4 MEAC) by as many as 12 in the first half.  The Eagles hung tight, and were able to close the gap with help from a first half double-double from Raasean Davis (Chicago, Ill.) who collected 10 points and 10 rebounds in the first 20 minutes as the Eagles went to the half trailing 28-25.
 
Pablo Rivas (Colon, Panama) came alive in the second half as he fired in critical three pointers along with his teammate Zacarry Douglas (Landover, Md.) to help the Eagles grab their lead of the contest in what would become a seesaw affair as the lead would change hands multiple times in the middle stages of the second half.
 
The Rattlers were eventually able to pull away and hold onto the lead on the way to a 65-56 final score, with a lot of help coming from Desmond Williams (Almore, Ala.) who scored 16 of his game-high 21 points in the second half.
 
Davis finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the year, and Rivas was just shy of the mark with 12 points and nine boards.  Raekwon Harney (Winston-Salem, N.C.) played extended minutes and dished out a game-high five assists with seven points.
 
Williams collected a team-high eight rebounds for the Rattlers, and Marcus Barham (Melbourne, Fla.) collected 20 points with five boards.  Elijah Mayes (Orlando, Fla.) put in 13 for FAMU as the third player with 10+ points for the hosts.
 
The Eagles as a team comfortably outrebounded FAMU 47-31, and with that margin, NCCU outscored the Rattlers 27-8 in second-chance points.
 
NCCU is next on the road at Bethune-Cookman on Monday, Feb. 12.