Jan. 20, 2005

Final Stats

Winston-Salem, NC - The Winston-Salem State University Rams basketball team made it interesting on Thursday evening at the Joel Coliseum Annex as they squandered four leads of ten points or better en route to pulling out a four-point victory by the score of 76-72 over the Bears of Shaw University in a CIAA intra-division basketball game.

The Rams started the contest on a 6-0 run over the game's first three and a half minutes of play en route to jumping out to a 24-7 lead midway through the first half of play as it looked as though WSSU would have no trouble dispatching the struggling Bears.

WSSU would push the lead to a game-high 20 points, leading 31-11 with 9:06 remaining in the first half on a deep three-point field goal from freshman, guard Roy Peake (Thomasville, NC).

However, the Bears rallied back as they cut the Ram lead in half, narrowing the deficit to only ten points with just under three minutes to play in the half when Jason Coleman connected on a pair of free-throws.

WSSU would have one last push during the game's first 20 minutes as 2003-04 CIAA Rookie of the Year Audly Wehner (Fayetteville, NC) drilled a 26-foot running one-hander as the horn sounded to give WSSU a 13-point halftime cushion, leading 46-33.

The second half of play saw the Bears come out of the locker room strong as they cut the deficit to six points only 3:30 into the half as they looked to be hitting their stride offensively.

However, the Rams once again used solid offensive sets to push that lead back to 16 points only four minutes later, leading 59-43.

The Bears would make run, thanks to offensive miscues and turnovers, coupled with questionable Ram shot selection as they narrowed the gap to a more manageable seven points with just over two minutes left in the contest.

Shaw would cut the lead to as little as three points with only a fraction more than 30 seconds left on the clock, but two pairs of Wehner free-throws would seal the Rams' victory, their 11th of the season.

Alleggrie Guinn Nails A Jumper In The 1st Half (Photo Courtesy Of Mission eXtreme Imaging And Garrett Garms)

WSSU was led by Wehner who tallied 20 points in the game as he led three Rams in double figures. Shaw was led by Nate Arron who recorded a team-high 17 points in the loss.

WSSU improves to 11-5 overall (4-1 CIAA) with the win, while Shaw falls to 3-13 overall (1-4 CIAA) with the loss.

The Rams return to action on Saturday, January 22nd, 2005 as they travel to Lawrenceville, VA to face the Tigers of Saint Paul's College in an intra-division basketball contest. WSSU and Saint Paul's are no stranger to one another as the Rams defeated SPC in a non-conference game on November 20th, 2004 by the score of 85-53.

For additional information on WSSU men's basketball, contact the WSSU Office of Sports Information at (336) 750-2143 or log on to the Official Website of WSSU Athletics at www.WSSURAMS.com