Feb. 23, 2005

Winston-Salem, NC - The Winston-Salem State University basketball teams will take to the court three and a half hours earlier on Thursday, February 24th, 2005 when they face Saint Paul's College in Lawrenceville, VA due to the threat of severe winter weather that has been forecast for the Virginias and Carolinas. The Lady Rams will tip-off at 2:00 PM and the Rams will face the Tigers at 4:00 PM.

The contest between the two schools has been postponed twice already this season, and with another severe weather advisory being issued by the National Weather Service, and dangerous driving conditions looming on the horizon, University officials from both schools decided to move the game times up three and a half hours.

The Rams and Lady Rams will travel to Lawrenceville, VA on Wednesday evening, stay overnight, and return home on Thursday evening, if weather permits. If travel conditions are unsafe on Thursday evening, the WSSU basketball teams will stay in Lawrenceville, VA again on Thursday evening with plans to return home to Winston-Salem, NC on Friday.

WSSU Update...The Rams are currently sporting a 20-6 overall record (13-2 CIAA, 8-2 CIAA West) following Tuesday's 79-58 win over North Carolina Central University at the Lawrence Joel Coliseum. WSSU has closed out the CIAA Western Division portion of the schedule and have finished with an 8-2 record, good enough to clinch their first CIAA Western Division title since 1999-2000. The Rams are also 5-0 against the CIAA Eastern Division this season, as they look to sweep the East by defeating Saint Paul's College on Thursday evening in Lawrenceville, VA. WSSU is currently ranked fifth in the South Atlantic Region, and with wins over then-#1 Virginia Union, and current #1 Bowie State, the Rams are almost assured of making the NCAA Division II national tournament. WSSU sits in the middle of the regional rankings with four other CIAA teams making an appearance, including the Eagles of North Carolina Central who fell to WSSU by 21 points on Tuesday evening.

Rams Vs. Tigers...Meeting two 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 #5 in the South Atlantic Region with four other CIAA teams also ranked...Rams enter the game on a one-game win streak...Tigers enter the contest riding a 32-game losing streak and are coming off of a loss to #1 Bowie State by the score of 86-80...Rivalry between the Rams and Tigers has diminished as of late...Winston-Salem State won the last meeting on November 20th, 2004 (85-52) in Charlotte, NC at the JCSU Tip-Off Classic...WSSU has won the last seven head-to-head meetings and nine of the last 12 overall...WSSU is coming off of a 79-58 win over the Eagles of North Carolina Central on Tuesday...WSSU has defeated two ranked opponents thus far during the 2004-05 season...The Rams will face former Winston-Salem NC native, coach Edward Joyner.

Coaching Matchups...This game will pit WSSU head coach Philip Stitt versus Edward Joyner...Stitt, in his fourth season, has amassed a record of 73-39 (.651) overall, while Edward Joyner is in his 1st season at Saint Paul's and has an overall coaching record of 0-21 at SPC (.000)...Stitt is 5-0 (1.00) versus Saint Paul's in his head coaching career...Joyner is 0-1 (.000) versus Stitt while at Saint Paul's as the two teams met earlier in the season (November 20th, 2004) in the second round of the Johnson C. Smith University Tip-Off Classic...The Rams won that game with ease, by the score of 85-53.

1000 Points Plus...Alleggrie Guinn, a junior from Charlotte, NC just recently crossed over the 1,000 point threshold. Through almost three full seasons, Guinn has tallied 1,056 points. Guinn has appeared in 83 games for the Rams, starting 73 of them. He has averaged 12.72 points per game throughout his career at WSSU, scoring 265 points as a freshman, 367 points as a sophomore, and 421 thus far in 2004-05 (as a junior). With only one regular-season game remaining (Thursday versus Saint Paul's College in Lawrenceville, VA), Guinn now sits with 1,056 total career points.

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 on Thursday, January 20th, 2005 by the score of 76-72 before defeating Virginia State on January 25th, 2005 (66-52) and Bowie State on 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 week (February 24th)...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. The CIAA's Bowie State (1st in NCAA Division II) is ranked first in the region with Virginia Union (13th in NCAA Division II) in third, Winston-Salem State in fifth, North Carolina Central in eighth and Johnson C. Smith in tenth. The Rams have defeated Virginia Union (once this season), Johnson C.Smith (twice this season), Bowie State (once this season) and North Carolina Central (twice this season). The top eight teams in each region qualify for the NCAA Division II national tournament.

About The Rams...The 2003-04 Rams finished the season with an overall mark of 16-12 and a CIAA record of 6-10, good enough to finish in fourth place in the CIAA's Western Division. The Rams have nine letter-winners returning and lose only four players from last season's team. The Rams return four starters during the upcoming 2004-05 season and will welcome a plethora of newcomers (seven in total).

Darnell Gregory And The Rams Will Travel To Lawrenceville, VA On Wednesday To Face Saint Paul's On Thursday Due To Snow

Rams Picked Fifth...The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association held its annual men's and women's basketball media and coaches exchange on Thursday, October 6th, 2004 at the Raleigh Marriott Crabtree Valley Hotel where the 2004-05 All-CIAA Pre-Season Teams and predicted order of finish were announced to coaches, administrators and media members. The Rams of Winston-Salem State University were picked to finish fifth in the Western Division, ahead of only the Blue Bears of Livingstone. The predicted order of finish selections were unkind to the Rams as they have been picked to finish ahead of only Livingstone a team that fnished last in 2003-04. However, the Rams split the 2003-04 season series' with three of the four teams that have been picked to finish behind. The Virginia Union University Panthers, the defending CIAA champions, are picked to win the CIAA's Eastern Division, and the Broncos of Fayetteville State are picked to pull to the forefront in the CIAA's Western Division. WSSU will have try to prove the skeptics wrong in 2004-05 as they look to again become CIAA champions.

TV Coverage...There is no television coverage for Thursday's contest North Carolina Central. Check out the official website of WSSU Athletics at wssurams.com for future television updates and times. The Rams have not appeared on television during the 2004-05 regular season, but 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 CIAA tournament live on television.

Radio Coverage...The game between the Rams and Saint Paul's College 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." Saint Paul's College radio is unannounced as of press time. For home-team broadcast information, contact the Saint Paul's College Office of Sports Information at (434) 848-1828 .

WSSU's Last Game...The Rams are coming off of a game on Tuesday in which they defeated their arch-rival, the Eagles of North Carolina Central University by the score of 79-58 at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum to earn the season sweep over their CIAA-partner from Raleigh, NC en route to earning their 20th win of the season, improving to 20-6 overall. The Rams got another stellar performance from Alleggrie Guinn as he recorded 21 points and two rebounds, going four for seven from behind the three-point line. Guinn was not the only Ram to record a double-digit scoring performance as Audly Wehner tallied 15 points and four rebounds, and Darnell Gregory turned in a double-double, scoring 10 points and pulling down 10 rebounds. Rashad McGee narrowly missed a double-digit performance as he tallied eight points while dishing out five assists and committing only one turnover.