A 5-11 freshman guard from Hampton, VA, Daniel appeared out of sorts in the first half, as he took only three shots and made a three pointer during only eight minutes of play.  With their leading scorer not in rhythm, Howard (5-15, 3-2 in the MEAC) turned to their team leader, Okoroh, who scored nine points to keep the Bison close before a late Rattler spurt opened up a 33-24 FAMU lead at the half.  Jamie Adams (12 points) and Reggie Lewis (8 points) were mostly responsible as they combined for 20 first half points.

"I thought we did a good job defensively with our press and overall defense," explained Howard head coach Kevin Nickelberry.  "But we had too many turnovers (15) did not get enough shots. I told the team at halftime that we needed to score 40-plus points, take better care of the ball and do a better job on Adams."  The Bison committed only four second half turnovers.

Daniel, who came into the game averaging over 21 points per game and was coming off a career-high 33-point effort in the win over UMES, came out a different player in the second half.  He hit on eight of 14 shots, three of five from three-point range to lead his team from a nine-point halftime deficit.  His four-point play and a two-point basket by Okoroh on a beautiful spin move, completed the comeback and gave the Bison the lead for good at 48-45 with a little under nine minutes remaining.

"J-Bird was a little tentative in the first half and we were not doing a good job of setting screens and freeing him up," said Nickelberry.  "He is a scorer and a very confident player as he showed in the second half."

With Daniel scoring in a variety of ways and drawing oohs and aahs from the FAMU crowd, the Rattlers began to focus their defensive attention on him and it opened the door for Okoroh, who was effective with short pull ups, drives to the basket and getting to the free throw line.

While Daniel and Okoroh combined to provide the offense, the rest of the team did its part to contribute to the victory.  The Bison limited FAMU to 8 of 27 shooting in the second half and only 2 of 9 from beyond the arc.  Adams was limited to one for five from the field in the second stanza while Lewis went two for eight.

"I thought our depth and energy level played a big part," said Nickelberry.  "We were able to cover the wings better by forcing them further out and our interior defense caused them problems.  Damion Collins was especially effective out front with his length and Marcel (Boyd), Tyler (Stone) and Oliver Ellison made it very difficult in the interior."  The trio combined for 17 rebounds and six blocked shots.

The Rattlers were led by Adams with 19, Lewis with 13 and Jomari Bradshaw with 10.

Howard will try to win its third straight game for the first time this season when it travels to Daytona Beach, FL on Monday to take on the Wildcats of Bethune Cookman at 7:30 pm in Moore Gymnasium.

"This team has been through a lot this season," said Nickelberry.  "We can never get too excited.  It's like Prince tells them all the time in the huddle to take it one play, one game at a time.  We have to stay focused on the business at hand and that is Bethune.   They are a good basketball team and we have to prepare accordingly."?