Feb. 24, 2005
Lawrenceville, VA - The 2004-05 regular-season is over for the Winston-Salem State University Rams, and this year's team has had a successful run as they clinched the CIAA Western Division regular-season title, and after defeating the Saint Paul's College Tigers in Lawrenceville, VA on Thursday afternoon by the score of 77-65, finished the regular-season with an overall record of 21-6 (14-2 CIAA, 8-2 CIAA West).
The Rams and Tigers played a close game through most of the first half of play as the two teams battled back and forth, yet the visiting Rams were in control of the contest's tempo and pace as they ran their offense with precision and ease.
WSSU was able to jump out to an early lead in the first half of play as they shot 46.9% from the field, connecting on 15 of 32 field goal attempts. Conversely, the Tigers, who were pressured by the aggressive Ram defense all half long, were only able to hit seven of their 27 first-half field goal attempts as they shot a dismal 25.9% from the field.
The Rams used the shooting disparity to take a 10-point lead to the locker room at the half as they led 37-27 after 20 minutes.
The second half of play was one where the Tigers looked like a very much improved basketball team as they would cut the Ram lead to as little as five points behind a shooting performance that saw Saint Paul's hit almost 60% of its field goals.
However, the Rams shot a hot 50% from the field as well in the second half, and the game would come down to a late WSSU run that again pushed the lead into the double-digits.
Leading by ten with only two minutes to play, the Rams would calmly hit free throws that secured their 21st win of the season.
With the win, the Rams improve to 21-6 overall, 14-2 in the CIAA and 8-2 in the CIAA Western Division. The Tigers remain winless at 0-22 overall and 0-15 in the CIAA. They will look to earn their first win of the season in Saturday's regular-season finale.
WSSU was led by five players in double figures as Rashad McGee, Darnell Gregory, and Alleggrie Guinn each recorded 11 points, while Terris Sifford had 12 and Audly Wehner chipped in with 13.
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Saint Paul's was led by Jerry Henderson who recorded 16 points in a losing effort.
The Rams will return to action on Thursday, March 3rd, 2005 as they will take to the court in the quarterfinal round of the 2005 CIAA Championship Tournament. The Rams are the #1 seed in the Western Division and will face off against an as-yet-to-be-determined opponent.
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
