Nov. 16, 2006

Daytona Beach, Fla. - Jimmy Hudson scored 13 of his team-high 16 points in the second half to lift Bethune-Cookman College past a feisty Florida Institute of Technology squad by a count of 67-59 on Thursday night at Moore Gymnasium in beautiful Daytona Beach, Florida.

As the scoreboard showed homestanding Bethune-Cookman (1-0) trailing to their worthy Division II counterparts from the southern half of Florida in Melbourne by a score of 33-30 at the half, freshman guard/forward Jimmy Hudson (Eustis, Fla.) connected on a three-pointer right from the start of the second half to tie the score. He did the same thing every time B-CC got into trouble, including putting the Wildcats up by three (50-47) with 11:49 left in the game.

"I thought my shot was a little off tonight, but I don't think the first-game jitters were there though," stated a confident Hudson following the game. "I knew we needed baskets, and I wasn't going to stop shooting until I made sure we were back on top."

Transfer Dewayne Pettus (Pittsburgh, Pa.) helped out the former Clemson Tiger [Hudson] late in the game with two free throws to put the `Cats on top 52-47 with just fewer than 11 minutes left in the contest.

The game went scoreless for nearly three minutes after that until Kevan Creppy (Silver Spring, Md.), one of just five (5) student-athletes returning from last year's squad, hit a jumper from the left elbow to keep the `Cats out in front 54-47.

After leading by as many as five earlier in the half, Florida Tech (0-1) made things interesting once again late in the game following a Carl McNally three-pointer--one of his three on the night, with 2:45 remaining to cut the lead down to just one at 59-58 in favor of B-CC. But that's when Hudson became essential again with another three-point basket to maintain the Wildcat lead.

Free throws by Jordan Carrier (Ocala, Fla.) and Creppy down the stretch preserved the season-opening victory for fifth-year head coach Cliff Reed, who was less than happy with the win following the contest.

"We didn't play our best ball tonight, and a lot of guys are still trying to find themselves in this system," exclaimed Reed. "We did get some great minutes and effort from all the guys, especially Creppy and Hudson, but I think if we can get that type of effort from everyone, every night, then we are going to have a successful season this year."

One of the guys trying to find himself, most assuredly, is Pettus, who was an unpleasantly cold 2-for-18 from the field tonight. Some of his shots were rushed shots from the defense of Florida Tech's E.J. Murray, yet others were just shots that the transfer from San Bernardino Community College and JuCo All-American candidate was brought in to make, according to the B-CC coaching staff. Another player hoping tonight was just a first-game rust performance is center Aaron Nelson (Queens Village, N.Y.). Nelson was just 4-of-14 from the field with several missed wide open opportunities.

Florida Tech was led on the night with the dynamic play of forward Carl McNally with a game-high 27-point outburst. Beside him in the double-figures column was Jod Kelley with a double-double outing posting 12 points and 13 rebounds on the night.

"I thought that I had a slight mismatch on my defender tonight because we knew they were young to this system and had a lot of transfers," stated McNally. "I wanted to take my man outside a lot, and force him to play me going towards the basket with my dribble. But they have a very athletic team, and they ... as well as ourselves ... are only going to get better. This was a great game and a great experience, you know."

As for Bethune-Cookman, they were led by Hudson's 16 points and six rebounds, followed by the help of Josh Cummings (Chicago, Ill.) with 12 and Nelson with 10 points and eight boards. All of Cummings' points came from long range, an area many around the Daytona Beach based campus believe will be his to own, so to speak, before he departs from B-CC.

Bethune-Cookman led by as many as 14 (30-16) in the first half following a three-point basket from Carrier with 5:38 left in the stanza. That is where the visiting Panthers of Florida Tech went to work with a strong 17-0 run to end the half. That put the Panthers up 33-30 at the break was Kelley rounded out the scoring from the free throw line.

The Wildcats of B-CC will now prepare to travel to nearby Orlando to take on the UCF Golden Knights on Tuesday, Nov. 21 at 7:30 pm at UCF Arena on the campus of the University of Central Florida.