Karsceal Turner – I Got NEXT!
“We owed them some get-back,” those were the words of Reggie Calbert, B-CU’s Head manager before a 91-59 rout by the Wildcats of the South Carolina State University Bulldogs Monday night.
Calbert, didn’t know it at the time but he is a prophet. “Get-back” doesn’t begin to described the raining of threes put on by the Cats, specifically Mikel Trapp’s career-high 33 points, which lead Bethune-Cookman’s record shooting night in Monday’s 91-59 victory over SCSU.
The Wildcats set school records in shooting 70.7 from the field (29-41) and hitting 15 of 18 from three-point range, putting them alongside BYU and Manhattan for the nation’s best single-game three-point shooting percentage. BYU went 10-12 against Texas on November 25, and Manhattan was 10-12 against Columbia on November 12.
Trapp, who was scoreless when the teams met January 20, was nearly perfect shooting, making 9 of 10 from the field, 7 of 7 from 3-point range and 8 of 9 from the free throw line.
Trapp’s perfect night from three-point range was also a school record, and tied him with UNC’s Nicholas Paulos (9-9) and Texas Tech’s Dusty Hannah (7-7) for best three-point shooting night in the nation this year. His seven three-pointers puts Trapp with Antonio Webb and Clifford Reed at sixth on the single-game three-pointer list … The 32 point margin of victory was the largest in a MEAC game in the Gravelle Craig era. You like that don’t you?
Trapp was nearly perfect shooting, making 9 of 10 from the field, 7 of 7 from 3-point range and 8 of 9 from the free throw line.
Malik Jackson added 19 points and Kynard finished with 10 points and five assists. All eight Wildcats scored. Jordan Smith paced SCSU (8-14, 4-5) with 10 points. Yep you read right, only eight.
The bench yielded only three reserves but clearly that was enough Monday night.
“As a team, we’d like to keep doing what we’re doing and get better down the stretch. Trapp may have a night like that during the MEAC tournament where anything can happen,” coach Gravelle Craig said.
Lady Wildcats set the tone with 64-56 bashing of Lady Bulldogs
Chastity René Taylor shouldered the load, using a career-high scoring performance to lead the Bethune-Cookman Lady Wildcats (7-15, 4-6 MEAC) to a 64-56 victory over South Carolina State (5-14, 3-6 MEAC) on Monday evening at Richard V. Moore Gymnasium, completing the season sweep over the Lady Bulldogs.
Taylor was the hot shooter of the night, collecting a career high of 29 points on 47.4 percent shooting; a total that included hitting four three pointers and 7-of-8 free throws.
Shakeyia Colyer, a redshirt senior point guard had a quiet night until it became crucial for a B-CU leader to join Taylor. With 5:45 remaining, Colyer made three straight plays that changed the landscape of the game. She was still good for seven, while your girl Taylor Houston dropped 11.
Shot blocker supreme Kailyn Williams had three blocks and a quiet nine on the night. Speaking of Kailyn the freshman center has 65 blocks on the year and averages 3.0 BPG. She also puts up 6.3 PPG and leads the team with 6.7 RPG. Not to mention a 1 turnover per game average. Not bad for a freshman center. She will definitely be a beast in years to come. Remember I wrote it here.
“It feels great to get a win,” Associate Head Coach James Howard said. “At the half, we just wanted to make some adjustments. We felt like we didn’t play any defense in the first half. In the second half, we got some key stops and were able to get into an uptempo game.”
Both Wildcats Hoops teams make a trip to the Tar Heel State for showdowns with N.C. Central and N.C. A&T. If I recall correctly this would be a Bus trip. That’s kinda ugly, I can’t say I got next on that one because I’m not leaving the sunny confines of Central Florida. Instead, I shall send a spirit of winning with my team within this column.
Well written article!