Tallahassee, FL—James "J-Byrd" Daniel, III scored a game-high 20 points and James "JC" Carlton tallied 14, but it was two three pointers by reserve guard Keon Hill proved to be big as Howard held off Florida A&M University, 59-50 in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference game at Al Lawson Center.

The game was designated as Coaches for Cancer night.  All the coaches wore sneakers in support of college basketball and its awareness of cancer.
                 
The Bison (9-10, 3-2 MEAC) jumped out to the early lead and cruised to a 34-22 halftime advantage.  Daniel led the way with 12 and Carlton chipped in with nine.  Despite the seemingly comfortable lead, it was a Hill three pointer late in the half that helped Howard maintain and extend its lead.
                 
The second half, Howard was able to keep the Rattlers (0-19, 0-6 MEAC) at arm's length as Carlton and Daniel, along with Miller and Collins, combined to take turns scoring.  But feisty Florida A&M team refused to quit and scrapped its way to a seven-point deficit with a little less than eight minutes left.  Enter Hill again as a sub for Daniel and red-shirt sophomore delivered a three-point bomb that sent the lead back to double digits and all but deflated the Rattlers.
                 
"I thought Keon's two three pointers were huge," said Howard head coach Kevin Nickelberry.  "They were making a run and when he hit the first one and it helped us take the lead back to 10.  The second one was even bigger because it stopped another one of their runs and gave us a comfort zone."
                 
As important as the scoring of Carlton and Daniel, the team defense was equally important in the victory.  The Bison limited Florida A&M to 35 percent shooting (19 of 46), including 26 percent (6 of 23) from beyond the arc while also blocking 8 shots.
                 
"One of our goals coming into the season was to improve our defense," Nickelberry said.  "I was not pleased with our turnovers and missed free throws in the second half, but the defense made plays when they mattered."
                 
Carlton recorded his fourth double-double of the season with 14 and 12.  Daniel had his best outside shooting performance of the season, connecting on 5 of 9 from behind the three-point line, including a beautiful step back that wowed the home crowd.
                 
"We have talked about J-Byrd, JC and JT (James Miller) all season so we expect them to put the ball in the basket," said Nickelberry.  "But I thought the contributions of Keon and Damon Collins and Oliver Ellison with their hustle plays were huge.  We have said all along that we have to have other people step up besides the Big Three if we are going to be successful".  Collins had 9 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals while Ellison had three rebounds and a blocked shot.
                 
The Rattlers were led by Jorge Rosa, who tallied 10 of his team-high 13 in the first half and Quentin Bastian who finished with 12.
 
NEXT UP: Howard will try to continue its winning ways when it travels to Daytona Beach, FL on Monday to face the Wildcats of Bethune Cookman at 7:30 pm.  The Rattlers will try to get their first win when they host Maryland Eastern Shore on Monday at 7:30 pm.