Feb. 14, 2005

Winston-Salem, NC - The Winston-Salem State University men's basketball team (18-5 overall, 11-1 CIAA, 6-1 CIAA West) will travel to Salisbury, NC on Tuesday evening to face the Livingstone College Blue Bears (15-9 overall, 7-6 CIAA, 3-4 CIAA West) for the second time in the past seven days in a CIAA men's basketball contest.

WSSU Update...The Rams are currently sporting an 18-5 overall record, and have moved to 11-1 in the CIAA (6-1 CIAA West) with Thursday's 62-57 win over Livingstone College at the C.E. Gaines Center in Winston-Salem, NC, and Saturday's 77-65 win over JCSU. WSSU is riding an nine-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 on 02/08/05 as they snuck by the Falcons at the LJVM Coliseum Annex.

WSSU Vs. Livingstone - The First Meeting Of 2004-05...The Rams and Blue Bears met on February 10th, 2005 at the C.E. Gaines Center in Winston-Salem, NC. WSSU won that meeting by the score of 62-57 behind 13 points from Alleggre Guinn.

Rams Vs. Blue Bears...Meeting two of two during the 2004-05 regular season...Tuesday's game is the second game of the evening with the women's contest immediately before the game...WSSU is ranked #5 in the South Atlantic Region with four other CIAA teams also ranked...Rams enter the game on a nine-game winning streak...Blue Bears enter the contest riding a one-game win streak and are coming off of a 73-72 win over North Carolina Central in Durham, NC on Saturday to sweep a pair of games from NCCU this year...Rivalry between the Rams and Blue Bears has decreased as of late, as Livingstone has won only one of the last 13 meetings...WSSU won the last head-to-head meeting on February 10th, 2005 by the score of 62-57...WSSU is coming off of a 77-65 win over the Golden Bulls of Johnson C. Smith on Saturday...WSSU has defeated two ranked opponents thus far this season...Nine-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 71-38 (.651) overall, while Stinson is in his first season at Livingstone College and has an overall coaching record of 15-9 at LC (.625)...Stinson has an overall career coaching record of 285-166 (.631) after spending 13 seasons at Barber-Scotia...Stitt is 7-0 (1.000) versus Livingstone in his head coaching career...Stinston is 0-1 (.000) versus WSSU serving as head coach...Stinson has the Blue Bears at 15-9 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 999 points. Guinn has appeared in 80 games for the Rams, starting 60 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 367 thus far in 2004-05 (as a junior). With four regular-season games remaining, Guinn needs only a single point, or an average of .25 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).