Deacs Double Up Rams; Winston-Salem State Falls To Wake Forest 62-31

Nov. 24, 2008

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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Winston-Salem State University men's basketball team held Wake Forest to little more than half of their season scoring average, yet it wasn't enough on Monday evening as the Rams fell in defeat to the Demon Deacons of Wake Forest 62-31 in the third annual Twin City Shootout at the Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem, N.C.

The Rams and Deacs combined for 29 first-half turnovers in the contest as the two teams scored only 35 first half points en route to a combined total of 45 turnovers and only 93 points.

WSSU's 31 total points marked the lowest scoring output since scoring only 24 points in a loss to West Virginia Tech during the 1942-43 season, the Rams' second-ever season of basketball.

WSSU head basketball coach Bobby Collins' plan to slow down the high-scoring Demon Deacons worked exactly as planned during the contest's first 20 minutes as the Rams held WFU to only 21 points on seven-of-20 shooting during the half as the two teams traded leads twice and were deadlocked on two other occasions.

"I thought in the first half we did a very good job containing their triple penetration and their transition buckets. We had a game plan to slow them down a little bit. We thought if we slowed them down we would have a chance to be in the game offensively" Collins commented in post-game interviews.

Trailing by only seven points headed into the second half the Rams looked to mount a challenge behind the solid play of senior forward Jamal Durham who recorded 11 points in the game's final 20 minutes.

WFU however, had other ideas as the Deacs used a scorching 68.2 percent shooting performance in the final 20 minutes of play as they mounted a pair of offensive runs from which the Rams would never recover.

The Demon Deacons wasted little time in mounting their first offensive run of the second half as Wake Forest outscored WSSU 17-4 during the first seven minutes of the second half en route to a 20-point lead.

The lead would grow to as large as 31 points with 6:31 remaining in the contest when a Jeff Teague three-pointer put the game out of reach for the Rams.

Durham's team-high 14 points, including a pair of three-point field goals led the Rams as he was the only WSSU player to score in double-figures.

"I am glad that Jamal hit some shots tonight" Collins added. "He has been in foul trouble the past couple of games and hasn't been able to get into an offensive rhythm. Tonight he played well for us and that will help us going forward this season"

Jeff Teague led the Demon Deacons with 14 points on six-of-eight shooting from the field as Wake Forest improves to 3-0 on the season.

The loss drops the Rams to 0-3 on the season. WSSU returns to action on Friday, Nov. 28 as they take on the Gauchos of UC-Santa Barbara in first-round tournament action from the World Vision Invitational hosted by Illinois State University from Normal, Ill.

For additional information on WSSU men's basketball, contact the WSSU Office of Athletic Media Relations at (336) 750-2143 or log on to the Official Website of WSSU Athletics at WSSURams.com.