Jan. 26, 2008
Final Stats
GREENSBORO, NC - The Aggies of North Carolina A&T put the woes of the past two football seasons out of their minds on Saturday afternoon at the Corbett Center in Greensboro, NC as they won the first of this season's pair of men's basketball "Battle of I-40's" as they downed the visiting Rams of Winston-Salem State University 75-56 in front of a sold out-crowd of over 7,000.
The Rams, winners of back-to-back "Battle of I-40" football victories over NC A&T fell victim to a hot-shooting Aggie team playing in their vibrant home court on Saturday. The Aggies and Rams, rivals from the days when both were members of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) took to the court to meet for the 64th time in history in a contest that the NC A&T Facilities Management personnel had to stop admitting fans more than 20 minutes prior to tip-off.
North Carolina A&T wasted no time in proving why ESPN.com rated the Corbett Center the 21st hardest place to play in the nation as the Aggies came out of the locker room flying as they shot nearly 66 percent from the field during the game's first 15 minutes of play, a span over which they were able to open up a game-high 24 point lead.
Sparked by the raucous crowd the Aggies' Steven Rush tallied 17 first-half points including five three-point field goals as he helped NC A&T to what would be an insurmountable lead.
While the Aggies were hitting everything that they threw at the basket, the Rams were busy missing 25 of their first 33 field goal attempts en route to a 24.2 percent first-half shooting performance.
WSSU's last first-half field goal came with nearly two minutes remaining on the clock as the Aggies took an 18-point advantage into the locker room at halftime leading 41-23.
The Rams would get no closer than 13 points for the remainder of the contest as WSSU never got their outside game going as they missed 19 of 22 three-point field goal attempts in the game.
Rush led all scorers with 23 points as he paced four Aggie players in double-figures. Joining Rush in double figures were Austin Ewing and Jason Wills with 12 points each and Trahern Chaplin with 10 points.
Leading the way for the Rams was Jamal Durham who tallied a team-high 17 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. Durham was the only Ram to record double digits in points in the contest.
The win moves North Carolina A&T to 9-9 overall (3-2 MEAC) while the Rams fall to 7-10 overall with the loss. WSSU head coach Bobby Collins' head coaching record versus the Aggies drops to 7-2 in the process.
Despite the loss the Rams continue to own a six game advantage in the all-time head-to-head series as they lead the Aggies 35-29.
WSSU returns to action on Monday, Jan. 28 at 8:00 pm as the Rams travel to Norfolk, Virginia to face the Spartans of Norfolk State University at Echols Hall.
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.
