TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A slow start turned into a late surge for North Carolina Central University, but Florida A&M was able to come away with a 66-57 win inside the Lawson Center on Monday, Jan. 20.
 
NCCU (7-12, 3-2 MEAC) struggled to get going in the first period of play as a cold spell allowed FAMU (5-12, 3-3 MEAC) to open a lead.  The Rattlers were able to keep a hold of the advantage, and took a 27-17 lead to the locker room after the first 20 minutes.
 
The Rattlers stretched the lead to as many as 23, but the Eagles mounted a late surge to cut the deficit to seven with under three minutes to play after a three-pointer from Jordan Perkins (Greensboro, N.C.).  FAMU made its free throws down the stretch as it went to the line 26 times, and that helped them to a 66-57 victory.
 
Deven Palmer (Hyde Mark, Mass.) played a big role in the Eagles' late surge as he scored 10 points after the midway mark on his way to a total of 12.  C.J. Keyser (Baltimore, Md.) scored a team-high 13 points with five rebounds, and Jibri Blount (Pittsburgh, Pa.) also reached double-figures for a 15th consecutive game with 12 points along with a team-best 12 boards for a second consecutive double-double, and his fourth in the last five games. Perkins flashed to life in the second half as well as he scored eight of his 11 points after the intermission.
 
FAMU got game-high outputs of 17 points from both Nasir Core (Tampa, Fla.) and Rod Melton (Dothan, Ala.) and Melton tacked on seven rebounds as well.  MJ Randolph (Pensacola, Fla.) was the third Rattler to reach double-digits with 12 points and nine rebounds.
 
The Eagles will return home after four games away on Saturday, Jan. 25 against Delaware State inside McDougald-McLendon Arena, in the second half of a doubleheader following the women's contest at 2:00 p.m.