Rattlers fall to Grambling 60-55

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The FAMU men's basketball team suffered a 14-point, 69-55, loss to the Grambling Tigers (19-8 overall,12-3 SWAC) at home Saturday.  The Rattlers trailed the Tiger 31-17 at halftime.

Saturday was the Rattlers annual senior day, where fans expected to say goodbye to the teams four seniors.
 
However, with roughly 900 in attendance at Saturday’s game, it’s hard to blame fans for saying no thanks to FAMU basketball at this point. The team is slogging through one its worst seasons in program history, now 7-20 overall and 5-11 in the SWAC.  For most fans, it’s not just the defeats, it’s the way we lose.  
 
The Rattlers couldn’t get out of their own way Saturday committing 22 turnovers, many completely unforced.  Those, and other, self-inflicted wounds played a big role in the beatdown.  All afternoon, FAMU looked out of sorts and a multitude of problems never gave them the chance to get the offense going.

FAMU didn't score its first points until it was awarded three free throws with 13:51 to go in the first half. 
 
Instead stead of getting better, the Rattlers appear to be getting worse.  A month ago the Rattlers loss to Tigers at Grambling by 5 points, but could not muster to put up a better fight at home.
 
The turnovers, though, were only part of the problem, poor shooting also plagued the team as the Rattlers had only two players score in double figures -- Jordan Chatman, who had 11 points and nine rebounds. Noah Meren added 11 points.  

 
On the bright side, FAMU out-rebounded Grambling 35-33 in Saturday's game but couldn’t seem to do anything with the ball once they got it.

FAMU’s shots weren’t just missing, they were missing badly.  Lots of offensive trips looked disjointed and ended with one player using too much of the shot clock before putting up a flailing attempt while swarmed by defenders. 

The players, to their credit, have not quit on themselves or their coach. But they have to be beaten down emotionally, and they simply cannot get over the hump and Coach Robert McCollum still can’t seem to find the right combination of players to put on the court at the same time this late in the season.

Lady Rattlers fall to Grambling

The FAMU women's basketball team (5-22, 3-13) suffered a 61-46 loss to Grambling Tigers (7-18, 6-8 SWAC) at home Saturday.  The loss was the Rattler's 47th loss against 8 wins in two full seasons under Coach Shalon Pillow.