Feb. 10, 2005
Winston-Salem, NC - The Rams made it a dozen on Thursday evening as they defeated the Blue Bears of Livingstone College at the C.E. Gaines Center by the score of 62-57 as WSSU picked up their 12th straight win over their CIAA neighbors from Salisbury, NC and picked up their eighth consecutive victory of 2004-05 in the process.
The contest started out as a challenge for the Rams as WSSU fell behind 5-1 only 2:09 into the game as the Blue Bears came out firing after the opening tip, hitting a mid-range jump shot and a long three-point field goal to start off their night.
The four-point deficit is all that it would take to awaken the Rams as they promptly went on a 26-14 run over the next ten minutes as WSSU would lead the contest 27-19 with just over seven minutes remaining in the first half of play.
The first half lead would get as large as nine points for WSSU at the 14:45 mark of the first period as WSSU cruised into the locker room for intermission leading the contest by five points at 37-32.
The halftime statistical line was virtually identical as both teams used their inside games to record double-digit points in the paint. The inside game was especially strong for the Rams as they recorded 16 points in the paint, despite the fact that All-CIAA forward Audly Wehner would not suit up for the game with an ankle sprain, forcing the Ram reserves to fill the void left behind without Wehner's 16.8 points per game scoring average.
The second half of play saw no early let down from the Rams as WSSU built their lead to 15 points with 13:04 remaining in the game, leading the Blue Bears 52-37.
Although it looked as though the Rams would coast to the win with only 13 minutes to play and a 15-point lead, the Blue Bears had other ideas.
Livingstone would roar back to life as they gradually chipped away at the Rams' lead. WSSU and the visiting Blue Bears traded baskets over the next six minutes as Livingstone waited to attempt one final comeback.
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That comeback would present itself only moments later as a trio of Ram turnovers resulted in an eight-point swing that cut the WSSU lead to only five points at 60-55 with 1:15 to play in the game.
However, it would again come down to free throws, and the clutch-shooting Rams easily iced the contest and escaped the sold-out C.E. Gaines Center with their 17th win of the season, eighth consecutive win, and 12th straight win over Livingstone to improve to 17-5 on the year (10-1 CIAA, 5-1 CIAA West).
Leading the way for the Rams was Alleggrie Guinn who scored a team-high 13 points. He was joined in double figures by Darnell Gregory and Terris Sifford who each chipped in with 10 points.
Livingstone was led by Olufemi Abiodun who tallied a team-high ten points in the loss. He was the only Blue Bear to score in double-digits.
With the win, the Rams move to 17-5 overall (10-1 CIAA, 5-1 CIAA West) while the Blue Bears fall to 14-9 overall (6-6 CIAA, 2-4 CIAA West) with the loss. The Rams remain unbeaten in their last eight games, and are sitting atop of the CIAA's Western Division with five games remaining in the regular season.
WSSU returns to action on Saturday evening at LJVM Coliseum at 8:00 pm as they play host to the Golden Bulls of Johnson C. Smith University as the two regionally-ranked teams will do battle for the second and final time of the 2004-05 regular season.
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
