Washington, DC---James "J-Byrd" made his long-awaited season debut by scoring a game-high 24 points and teammate James "JT" Miller contributed 18 but it was not enough to get by hot-shooting Florida A&M as the visiting Rattlers held off Howard 78-66 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference opener at Burr Gymnasium.
The nation's leading scorer last year with 27 points per game, Daniel had missed the first 14 games of the season with a high ankle sprain that he suffered in the preseason. Energized by Daniel's return, the Bison (3-12, 0-1 in the MEAC) jumped on Florida A&M (3-11, 1-0 in the MEAC) and bolted out to a 10-1 lead in the first four minutes as Daniel and Miller combined for 8 of the 10 points.
From there, the game changed to FAMU's side as Marcus Barham was on fire, tallying a high of 13 points on 5 of 10 shooting from the floor, including a perfect 3 for 3 from the three-point line. Justin Ravenel (9 points) and Elijah Mays (6 points) combined with Barham to hit on 8 of 9 from beyond the arc for 73 percent.
The result was a 40-28 lead at the half for the Rattlers as the Bison had problems getting rhythm on the offensive end, missing 25 of 36 shots and shooting 31 percent.
"Of course it's going to take some time to get adjusted and gel as a unit," said Daniel, Howard's all-time leading scorer. "But like coach Nick (Kevin Nickelberry) said, the goal is still the same to get to the tourney. We're just going to grow from this and become a stronger team. "
FAMU continued to shoot the ball well in the second half and built an 18-point lead over the first three-plus minutes of the second stanza.
Then the Bison began to chip away at the lead as Daniel, Miller and Charles "CJ" Williams helped cut the deficit to six on three different occasions. But each time Howard would get within striking distance, Derrick Dandridge (20 points, 10 rebounds), Barham (21 points) and Ravenel would find an answer to a run.
Williams, a 6-5 freshman guard from Richmond, VA scored all 12 of his points in the second half while Daniel and Miller combined for 22 points.
"It felt good being back on the court with everyone being at full strength," said the red-shirt junior guard. "I think we just have to get our chemistry back and everything else will work itself out "
Howard made one last run over the last four minutes but the Rattlers knocked down seven of eight free throws to hold the Bison at bay and snap their 10-game losing skid.
Daniel finished with 5 rebounds, four assists and two steals in 38 minutes. Miller, who was coming off a broken hand and missed the last nine games, tallied 18 on 7 of 14 shooting from the field. The rest of the team combined for 12 points on 6 of 30 shooting from the field. The Bison did, however hold an advantage in bench points for one of the few times this season and also held an advantage in the points in the paint (34-20).
"I knew coming in that chemistry would be an issue trying to get everyone on same page," said Nickelberry. "But for us to have a chance to win a championship (MEAC), it is important for us to get Daniel and Miller comfortable out there together with the other guys. This will be a work in progress probably for a couple of games but we will get better. They only had one practice together so we should see some improvement going forward. "
He continued. "All year we have had some moments to change the tide of some games and for whatever reason the bounce of the ball didn't go our way. I think the more chances we get to practice together and re-emphasize our roles, we will start getting a better result I still have great confidence in this group of young men. "
NEXT UP: The Bison will try to snap their four-game losing streak when they take on the Lions of Columbia on Saturday at 7 pm.
