Rams Win In Dramatic Fashion At Livingstone 69-68
February 11, 2003
Salisbury, NC -The Winston-Salem State University Rams basketball team started their game against the Livingstone College Blue Bears much the same was as their female counterparts started theirs...falling behind by six points early. The Rams scored their first basket at almost the same time as the Lady Rams did just two hours previous as well, waiting just over three minutes to do so.
However, the Rams would not fall behind as far as the Lady Rams did, as they would trade baskets with the Blue Bears for much of the first half.
This was a matchup of two very hungry teams as the Rams would come into the contest looking to break a four-game losing streak, and the Blue Bears would step onto the court looking for their very first CIAA win of the season.
Things would come easily for neither team as the two very evenly matched opponents traded punches like two heavyweight prize fighters. The Rams and Blue Bears traded blows, but spent the majority of the first ten minutes feeling each other out rather than doing any real damage to one another.
Exactly half way through the first half of play the score would be knotted at 12-12 when then Rams Alleggrie Guinn nailed a deep three-point field goal directly in front of the Livingstone College bench.
The remainder of the first half would continue to be a see-saw affair with each team continuing to strike and counter-strike. However, the Blue Bears would eventually sneak ahead 31-23 just before the halftime intermission, leaving the visiting Rams to ponder their mistakes going into the locker room.
Leading the way for the Rams in the first half was Alleggrie Guinn with nine points, while Olufemi Abiodun paced the Blue Bears with 10 points in addition to grabbing five rebounds. The difference in the first half would prove to be the Livingstone Blue Bear rebounding advantage as the host team tallied 14 more rebounds than the smaller Rams, holding a 25-11 advantage on the glass that led to ten second-chance points.
The opening minutes of the second half were witness to the Blue Bears extending their eight-point cushion to a more comfortable thirteen points as the Rams continued to be the victim of unfriendly rims, having potentially deadly-looking shots roll around the rim and fall harmlessly into the waiting arms of the taller Blue Bear defenders.
Two minutes later, Ram sharpshooter Jay Maynard would drill two straight three-point field goals to cut the Blue Bear lead to seven points. Darnell Gregory chipped in with a mid-range jumper only seconds later, and suddenly that thirteen point cushion was trimmed back to five points with 13:44 remaining in the contest.
Moments later a thunderous Robert Lee dunk, off of a beautiful transition play by Guinn would cut the Ram deficit to one point, as the pace would start to get feverish. The increase in tempo would favor the better-conditioned Rams, as WSSU would use its fitness advantage to take its first lead of the game at 50-49 with exactly 10:01 remaining in the contest.
The Ram lead would be short-lived as turnovers and a Christopher Johnson three-point play would give the 54-50 lead back to the Blue Bears as Livingstone looked to once again increase their lead.
Trailing in the game 64-61 with 3:31 remaining, Maynard would strike again, hitting a 22 footer with a hand in his face to tie the game at 64-64. However, the Rams would again fall victim to inexperience as two straight blown lay-ups would give the lead back to Livingstone at 66-64 with 2:08 to play.
After a brief delay in the game due to the Livingstone "Blue Bear" mascot being ejected from the contest, the Blue Bears and Rams squared off to finish the contest. A Maynard three-pointer would give the Rams back the lead, the 11th time the lead changed hands in contest, with 1:12 to play. As was true to the pattern of the game, the Blue Bears would again regain the lead and with 36 seconds remaining and trailing by one, the Rams' Juston White was fouled and sent to the free throw line looking to give the Rams back the lead (13th lead change in the game).
Converting only the front end of the pair of free throws, the ball would go back to the Blue Bears who promptly missed what was to be their final shot with Michael Matthews pulling down the rebound. Showing the poise of a veteran, Matthews spotted Juston White down court and calmly hit him with a forty foot pass. Going up for the game winning lay-up White would be fouled and sent to the line for two free throws with the game hanging in the balance and tied at 68-68 with 1.3 seconds remaining.
Looking to redeem himself from his earlier free throw miss, White would promptly miss the first free throw and sink the second giving the Rams the slimmest of leads at 69-68 and forcing the Blue Bears to come up with a miracle and having only one and three tenths of a second to do so.
Taking the ball out under their own basket the Blue Bears would look deep down court and ultimately fail to get a shot off giving the Rams the 69-68 win and denying Livingstone their first CIAA win of the season.
With the victory the Rams not only break their four-game losing streak but get back to .500 in the process moving to 12-12 overall and 7-6 in the CIAA while the Blue Bears fall to 5-16 overall and 0-12 in the CIAA.
The Rams are in action again on Saturday as they will welcome the Fayetteville State Broncos to the CE Gaines Center. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 pm directly following the game between the Lady Rams and Lady Broncos.
Official Box Score:
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
Winston-Salem State "Rams" vs Livingstone College
02/11/03 7:30 p.m. at Salisbury, NC (New Trent Gymnasium)
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VISITORS: Winston-Salem State "Rams" 12-12; 7-6CIAA
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
03 MCGEE, Rashad....... * 3-7 1-4 0-0 0 1 1 0 7 0 0 0 0 19
05 MCINTYRE, Jonathan.. * 3-5 1-2 0-1 0 1 1 2 7 4 1 0 2 23
15 WHITE, Juston....... * 3-4 0-0 3-7 1 0 1 1 9 0 5 0 0 30
21 LEE, Robert......... * 2-5 0-0 0-0 2 0 2 3 4 2 0 0 4 16
23 ADAMS, John......... * 0-3 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 16
11 MATTHEWS, Michael... 2-3 1-1 0-0 0 1 1 2 5 6 1 0 1 17
12 SESSOMS, Vincent.... 2-3 1-1 0-0 0 4 4 3 5 2 1 0 0 22
20 GUINN, Alleggrie.... 4-7 1-3 2-2 0 1 1 2 11 2 0 1 1 23
22 MAYNARD, Jay........ 7-18 4-12 1-1 1 1 2 1 19 1 1 0 2 23
32 GREGORY, Darnell.... 1-3 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 2 2 0 1 0 0 11
TEAM................ 1 2 3 1
Totals.............. 27-58 9-23 6-11 6 15 21 17 69 17 11 1 10 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 9-28 32.1% 2nd Half: 18-30 60.0% Game: 46.6% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-12 33.3% 2nd Half: 5-11 45.5% Game: 39.1% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 1-3 33.3% 2nd Half: 5-8 62.5% Game: 54.5% 2
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HOME TEAM: Livingstone College 5-16; 0-12CIAA
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
10 ABIODUN,Olufemi..... f 7-10 0-0 0-1 1 5 6 3 14 4 3 0 0 30
24 JOHNSON,Christopher. c 7-8 0-0 1-1 3 3 6 4 15 0 2 1 0 28
03 JC HENRY............ g 2-10 1-4 2-2 2 0 2 0 7 3 5 0 0 22
04 LAGRANGE,Jerome..... g 3-8 1-2 2-3 2 7 9 2 9 6 4 0 2 40
30 RASHAD SMITH........ g 4-7 0-2 0-0 2 5 7 2 8 3 3 0 1 22
01 BROWN,Michael....... 1-2 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 3
02 SIMON,Jermichael.... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 9
11 SAMSON,Edwin........ 4-6 1-1 0-0 0 1 1 1 9 0 3 0 0 14
25 DUNDAS,Michael...... 1-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 1 2 1 1 0 0 17
40 BROWN,James......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 6
44 CAMP,Davon.......... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
55 BARNETT,Joseph...... 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 2 2 0 0 0 0 7
TEAM................ 3 3
Totals.............. 30-55 3-9 5-7 12 28 40 18 68 18 22 2 3 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-28 46.4% 2nd Half: 17-27 63.0% Game: 54.5% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-4 75.0% 2nd Half: 0-5 0.0% Game: 33.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 2-3 66.7% 2nd Half: 3-4 75.0% Game: 71.4% 0
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Officials: B. Covington;C. Thompson;F. Broadnacks
Technical fouls: Winston-Salem State "Rams"-None. Livingstone College-None.
Attendance: 759
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Winston-Salem State "Rams".... 23 46 - 69
Livingstone College........... 31 37 - 68
Points in the paint-WSSU 24,LSTONEM 32. Points off turnovers-WSSU 28,LSTONEM 9.
2nd chance points-WSSU 8,LSTONEM 14. Fast break points-WSSU 2,LSTONEM 0.
Bench points-WSSU 42,LSTONEM 15. Score tied-5 times. Lead changes-13 times.
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