Box Score WICHITA ? Wichita State opened its 102nd season of men's basketball with a 77-53 win over Florida A&M Sunday evening in front of 10,301 fans inside Charles Koch Arena. The Shockers held the Rattlers to just 21 points in the second half in the win.
Florida A&M took control early behind three jumpers from Dunnell Webb. A Larry Jackson free throw gave the Rattlers a 7-3 lead at the 17:38 mark.
Wichita State answered right back. A Toure' Murry long ball, followed by a Hawkins lay-in off a Rattler turnover gave the gold-clad Shocks an 8-7 edge at the 16:46 Mark. A Ramon Clemente lay-up just before the first media time out gave WSU a 10-7 lead.
Rattler coach Eugene Harris was forced to spend his first timeout of the game when Shocker freshman Garrett Stutz dunked a pass from Reggie Chamberlain to give the Shocks a 15-8 edge, their biggest lead of the night to that point.
FAMU wasn't phased, tying the game up at the 10 minute mark behind four points from Yannick Crowder, and a three-pointer from Dale Hughes. Poor shooting and turnovers plagued both teams, as WSU found themselves leading by just two, 19-17, at the eight minute media timeout.
Lamar Twitty snapped a 6-0 Shocker run with a three pointer from the far corner to draw the Rattlers to within three at 23-20 with just under 5:30 to play in the game. Twitty added a free throw on the next Rattler possession, but Graham Hatch responded with a three ball at the other end to give WSU a 26-21 advantage at the 4:45 mark.
After trading baskets over the next four minutes, the Rattlers tied the game at 31-31 at the 1:19 mark with a Twitty free throw. Two free throws by Murry gave the Shockers a two-point lead, 33-31, with 32 ticks left in the opening half. Brandon Bryant hit one free throw to narrow the lead to one with seven seconds remaining. The Rattlers then fouled Clevin Hannah on his attempt to drain a last second three-pointer. Hannah hit all three shots to give WSU a 36-32 halftime advantage.
The Shockers used a 13-6 run to open up an 11-point edge, 51-40, at the first media timeout thanks to the Hannah's hot shooting hand. The transfer junior nailed two long balls in the opening minutes of the second half to boost the Shockers to their biggest lead of the night up to that point.
WSU pushed its lead to 17 at 58-41 just after the 11 minute mark when J.T. Durley sank a layup to cap a 6-0 Shocker run.
The Rattlers answered back with a three-point swing of their own, but Hatch responded with a three ball of his own to push his point total to 11 for the game.
Wichita State would achieve its first 20-point lead of the game at 66-46 on a Garret Stutz lay up just before the 4:30 mark, at which point head coach Gregg Marshall inserted Brett Michael and David Kyles into the Shocker lineup for the remainder of the game. Both Michael and Kyles were productive in their first outing as a Shocker. Each finished with two free throws while Kyles added a layup for four points on the evening.
Brett Steven and Reggie Britton entered the game at the 1:30 mark as the Shockers rode the clock to a 24-point, 77-53 victory.
Clevin Hannah led the Shocker scorers with a 13 point effort, while Ramon Clemente and Graham Hatch added 11 a piece. Clemente added 12 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. Toure' Murry was the only other Shocker to finish in double figures, finishing with 10 points in the game.
Lamar Twitty led the Rattlers with 13 points, and was the only Florida A&M player to record double figures in any category.
With the win, the Shockers are 1-0 on the young season. They will be in action Wednesday when they host UMKC in a 7:05 contest at Charles Koch Arena.
--Wichita State--
