After knocking down a pair of clutch free throws, former Bethune-Cookman guard Joe French stole the ball from his former team to clinch a big home victory for the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.
The Golden Lions defeated Bethune-Cookman 76-72 Monday night at H.O. Clemmons Arena for its third straight win.
French, who had 9 points, came to UAPB (8-10, 3-2 SWAC) as a graduate transfer last summer. He said beating his former team meant everything.
“In-between the lines, there’s no friends at all on the court,” French said. “It’s really just enemies, so it was very intense. There was a lot of chatter going back-and-forth between the bench, the players on the court, our team. So, it was really, really, really fun to play in a game like that. I love these kinds of games, especially against a lot of people that I’m cool with and that I know.”
French made all four of his free throw attempts, which all came in the final minute. His first pair gave UAPB a 74-67 lead, but Bethune-Cookman answered with a 3-pointer by Seneca Willoughby and a layup by Jackobi Heady, cutting it to 74-72.
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The Wildcats (8-10, 3-2) fouled French again with 11.5 seconds remaining, and he again made both free throws, making it a two-possession game. His steal on the next possession clinched the win. He had a free look at the rim but chose to run out the clock rather than run it up against his former teammates.
Rashad Williams led UAPB with 22 points. Kylen Milton finished with 19 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists. Ismael Plet added 11 points.
French didn’t have his best offensive performance this season, but UAPB Coach Solomon Bozeman said he was proud of French’s defense.
“He guarded tonight,” Bozeman said. “His offensive game wasn’t there, but defensively, he took a step in the right direction. He really guarded and defended. He played defense with a purpose tonight, so that’s only going to help him and our team going down the road.”
Heady led Bethune-Cookman with 25 points. Derrick Carter-Hollinger Jr. added 14 points and eight rebounds, and Willoughby scored 11 points.
These two teams came into this game as the top two scoring offenses in the SWAC. The Golden Lions finished right at their average in conference games (75.8 points), but UAPB held Bethune 10.5 points below its SWAC average two days after allowing 97 points to Florida A&M.
Bozeman said UAPB was disciplined on defense.
“Guys were in the right spots, especially in the second half,” Bozeman said. “Guys were talking and communicating a lot more. We locked in to our principles.”
The Golden Lions never led in the first half but hung around, and the Wildcats led 37-32 at halftime. UAPB forward Caleb Stokes gave the Lions their first lead of the game, 44-43, less than 5 minutes into the second half. The teams went back-and-forth for much of the rest of the game, which finished with nine lead changes, all in the second half.
A 3-pointer by Williams with 3:14 remaining gave UAPB the lead for good.
With the next four games being on the road, French said picking up two home wins this weekend was huge. UAPB beat Florida A&M 99-97 on Saturday.
“We dropped the first two games, so it was very important to give our fans something to cheer for, because we really shouldn’t have lost those two at home,” French said. “So, it was really, really important to get back on the right track in our gym, so that our people know to keep coming and keep supporting us.”