Rattlers fall to Morgan 77-75 in MEAC tournament

The FAMU men’s basketball season came to an end yesterday as the No. 2 seed in the MEAC South Division dropped a heartbreaker 77-75 to Morgan State in the semifinals of the MEAC Tournament. 
 
The Rattlers sat in the driver's seat for a majority of the game -- leading by as many as 12 points -- but sputtered in the second half. 

FAMU opened up a 42-32 lead on a Jalen Speer jumper with 19:22 left in the contest, Morgan State – the No. 3 seed out of the Northern Division – scored 33 of the next 42 points to go up 63-51 after Malik Miller hit two free throws with 7:46 remaining.
 
Sherwyn Devonish hit a jumper with 3:55 remaining that put Morgan State up 71-61.
 
But the Rattlers had one more run in them; using a 14-5 run, FAMU cut the lead to 76-75 with nine seconds remaining after Speer hit a pair of free throws. Devonish responded with a free throw of his own three seconds later, and DJ Jones’ potential game-winning three went wanting as the buzzer sounded.
 
Speer led four Rattlers in double figures with 18 points. MJ Randolph added 17.
 
This years’ tournament appearance was the Rattlers’ first in two years.  FAMU ended the 2020-21 season 8-12 overall with a 7-5 mark in MEAC conference play and will now move to the SWAC in July.