March 12, 2005
Bowie, MD - The Winston-Salem State University Rams men's basketball team closed the season on Saturday afternoon as they fell in defeat to USC-Upstate by the score of 63-59 in the South Atlantic Region NCAA quarterfinals at Bowie, MD as 22 turnovers helped propel the Spartans past the Rams.
WSSU came into the contest looking to exact revenge on the third-seeded Spartans as the Rams were trying to atone for the loss that they suffered at the hands of USC-Upstate by the score of 49-46 on December 3rd, 2004 in Winston-Salem, NC.
The game's first half was played at a fever pitch as the two teams traded baskets for the first five minutes of play as neither team would control the tempo of the contest.
However, WSSU started to pull away midway through the half as an Alleggrie Guinn (Charlotte, NC) three-pointer gave the Rams a ten-point advantage at 21-11 with 8:56 remaining in the first half of play.
The Guinn three-pointer was not a sign of things to come however as the Spartans held the Rams without a field goal for the next 5:54 of play, until a Curtis Hines (Charlotte, NC) lay-up broke the field-goal drought with 2:17 to play in the half.
WSSU, who played the majority of the half without the services of Terris Sifford (Greensboro, NC), who picked up his third foul with 5:50 to play in the first period, held on to their slim lead heading to the locker room at halftime as the Rams took a 29-24 advantage to the intermission.
Halftime statistics showed a severe shooting disparity as the Rams connected on 12 of their 25 first-half shots for a shooting percentage of 48.0% while the higher-seeded Spartans hit only eight of 27 field-goal attempts en route to a 29.6% shooting performance in the half.
The Spartans' cold shooting would not carry over into the second half as USC-Upstate came out of the locker room hot, putting together a 10-4 run to start the second half as they took their first lead with 17:22 to play in the contest. The lead, USC-Upstate's first since leading the game 7-5, was sparked by the play of Luke Payne, the son of the Spartan's head coach Eddie Payne.
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Payne would hit three consecutive three-point field goals on three consecutive USC-Upstate possessions over the span of 1:20 as he buried long-range shots at the 4:52, 5:30, and 6:12 marks of the second half.
With the Payne offensive explosion, the Spartans were able to turn a five-point halftime deficit into a five-point lead with just over 12 minutes remaining in the game.
The Rams, a team that has recovered from second-half deficits on numerous occasions this season, did just that, tying the game 47-47 with 9:42 left on the clock, setting up what proved to be an exciting finish in the South Atlantic Region playoffs' first contest of the day.
 Rashad McGee Closed Out His WSSU Basketball Career On Saturday  |
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Again the two teams would trade blows as the Spartans tied the game for the 9th time on a pair of free throws only moments later.
The Spartans' Jay Free (Spartanburg, SC) gave USC-Upstate a three-point advantage at 59-56 with exactly two minutes remaining in the game when he connected on a long-range three-point field goal.
That three-point advantage would be just enough as the Spartans held on to defeat the Rams for the second time during the 2004-05 season en route to advancing to the South Atlantic Region semifinals versus the winner of the Virginia Union/Catawba game that takes place at 2:30 pm.
Leading the way for the Rams in the loss was Audly Wehner who tallied 16 points as he was one of only two WSSU players in double-figures. Curtis Hines chipped in with 10 points in the loss.
The Spartans were led by Jay Free who recorded 15 points. He was joined in double-figures by Charleston Long who tallied 13 points.
WSSU finishes the season with a record of 22-8 overall while USC-Upstate improves to 23-7 with the win as they move on to the regional semifinals.
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
