Feb. 10, 2005

Winston-Salem, NC - The Winston-Salem State University Rams basketball team will look to make it eight straight wins on Thursday evening when they battle the Livingstone College Blue Bears at the C.E. Gaines Center on the campus of Winston-Salem State University in an important CIAA Western Division men's basketball contest.

Link To Complete Game Notes...The link for the complete set of game notes for this contest is available by accessing the following URL: COMPLETE GAME NOTES

WSSU Update...The Rams are currently sporting a 16-5 overall record, and have moved to 9-1 in the CIAA (4-1 CIAA West) with Tuesday's 78-74 win over Saint Augustine's College at the LJVM Coliseum Annex in Winston-Salem, NC. WSSU is riding a seven-game win streak and is now receiving votes in the weekly NABC Division II national polls. The Rams are sitting alone atop the CIAA's Western Division as WSSU has only one conference loss, to the Falcons of Saint Augustine's. The Rams avenged that loss this past Tuesday as they snuck by the Falcons at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum Annex behind guard Alleggrie Guinn's team-high 27 points.

WSSU Vs. Livingstone - The First Meeting Of 2004-05...The Rams and Blue Bears have yet to meet in 2004-05. The 2nd meeting between the teams is 02/17 in Salisbury,NC.

Rams Vs. Blue Bears...Meeting one of two during the 2004-05 regular season...Thursday's game is the second game of the evening with the women's contest immediately before the game...WSSU is ranked #6 in the South Atlantic Region with four other CIAA teams also ranked...Rams enter the game on a seven-game winning streak...Blue Bears enter the contest riding a one-game win streak and are coming off of a 71-70 win over Elizabeth City State in Elizabeth City, NC on Tuesday...Rivalry between the Rams and Blue Bears has decreased as of late, as Livingstone has won only one of the last 12 meetings...WSSU won the last head-to-head meeting on February 10th, 2004 at the LJVM Coliseum by the score of 113-91...WSSU is coming off of a 78-74 overtime win over the Falcons of Saint Augustine's College on Tuesday...WSSU has defeated two ranked opponents thus far this season...Seven-game win streak is WSSU's longest of the 2004-2005 season.

Coaching Matchups...This game will pit WSSU head coach Philip Stitt versus James Stinson...Stitt, in his fourth season, has amassed a record of 69-38 (.644) overall, while Stinson is in his first season at Livingstone College and has an overall coaching record of 14-8 at LC (.636)...Stinson has an overall career coaching record of 284-165 (.632) after spending 13 seasons at Barber-Scotia...Stitt is 4-0 (1.000) versus Livingstone in his head coaching career...Stinston is 0-0 (.000) versus WSSU serving as head coach...Stinson has the Blue Bears at 14-8 currently...LC finished last season 3-24 overall.

1000 Point Watch...Alleggrie Guinn, a junior from Charlotte, NC is closing in on the 1,000 point mark. Through two and a half seasons, Guinn has tallied 965 points. Guinn has appeared in 78 games for the Rams, starting 58 of them. He has averaged 12.37 points per game throughout his career at WSSU, scoring 265 points as a freshman, 367 points as a sophomore, and 323 thus far in 2004-05 (as a junior). With six regular-season games remaining, Guinn needs only 35 points, or an average of 5.83 points per game to shatter the 1,000 plateau during the 2004-05 regular season.

CIAA Eastern Division Vs. WSSU...The contest between Bowie State and the Rams was WSSU's fifth game versus the CIAA's Eastern Division in 2004-05 with the Rams posting a 5-0 record thus far this season...WSSU defeated #1 in the nation Virginia Union on January 4th, 2005 by the score of 76-62; defeated Elizabeth City State on January 6th, 2005 by the score of 60-46; and defeated Shaw University last Thursday, January 20th, 2005 by the score of 76-72 before defeating Virginia State on January 25th, 2005 (66-52) and Bowie State last Saturday (January 29th, 2005)...WSSU looks to stay perfect versus the CIAA's Eastern Division in 2004-05 if they can defeat St. Paul's later this season...The Rams faced Eastern-Division member St. Paul's in a non-conference game on November 20th, 2004 and defeated the Tigers 85-53.

CIAA Has Five Of Top Ten...The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association is showing just how much quality talent is within the men's basketball ranks this season as five of the top ten teams in the South Atlantic Region Rankings are members of the CIAA, and a Ram opponent from this season sits at #1 in the region. USC-Upstate, who narrowly defeated the Rams this season is atop the region with the CIAA's Bowie State in second, Virginia Union in third, North Carolina Central in seventh, Winston-Salem State in sixth, and Johnson C. Smith in eighth. The Rams have defeated Virginia Union and Johnson C.Smith as well as Bowie State and North Carolina Central (this past Saturday in Durham, NC, 86-81 in overtime).

TV Coverage...There is no television coverage for Thursday's contest Livingstone. Check out the official website of WSSU Athletics at wssurams.com for future television updates and times. The Rams may appear on television as many as three times during the 2004-05 regular season, and will appear on ESPN 2/ESPN Classic during the 2005 CIAA Tournament due to the recent deal between the CIAA and ESPN to televise the entire 2005 tournament live on TV.

Radio Coverage...The game between the Rams and Livingstone will be available to listeners in the greater Winston-Salem area on WSNC, FM 90.5 with Sam Harley and the "Voice of the Rams", Bill Franklin calling all the action as well as nationally on the internet at www.wssu.edu by clicking on the link: "Listen to WSNC." Livingstone College radio is unannounced as of press time.

WSSU's Last Game...The Rams are coming off of a pair of wins last week and one this past Tuesday. The first win was a victory over the Broncos of Fayetteville State University on last Tuesday evening as they traveled to Capel Arena in Fayetteville, NC and defeated the home team 74-64 in an important CIAA Western Division contest. WSSU improved to 14-5 overall with the win as the Rams had now won five straight games and six of their last seven contests. The second win of the week was an overtime thriller in Durham, NC over the North Carolina Central University Eagles. WSSU got 30 points from Audly Wehner as the Rams remained perfect in overtime this season (2-0 overall in overtime). The Rams got some late-game heroics from Frank Johnson who recorded back to back three-pointers to propel WSSU to the overtime win. WSSU then defeated Saint Augustine's College this past Tuesday (02/08) at the LJVM Coliseum Annex by the score of 78-74 in overtime to move to their current 16-5 overall mark.