Feb. 16, 2008
Final Stats
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Winston-Salem State University men's basketball team erased a five-point deficit in the final 27 seconds of the game and Jamal Durham's game-tying and game-winning free throws earned the Rams a 58-57 road win in the nation's capitol over Howard University on Saturday evening.
The Rams, trailing 56-51, looked to be headed for their 10th road loss of the season, and 15th consecutive road defeat dating back to last season as the Howard Bison enjoyed a five-point cushion at home in Burr Gymnasium with less than 30 seconds remaining in the game.
With 17 seconds to play, Darrell Wonge's bid to trim the lead to only thee points was off the mark and the shortest player on the court, WSSU senior guard Roy Peake, came down with the rebound, despite being standing only 5'10".
Peake, the Rams's experienced veteran with over 100 starts in his career found WSSU's Jamal Durham who was fouled on a lay-up attempt that stopped the clock with 14 seconds to play.
Durham calmly hit both free throws to cut the Bison lead to only three points at 56-53 as the Rams slowly started their comeback.
An immediate foul sent Howard's Eugene Myatt to the free throw line attempting to make push the lead back to five points. Myatt, however, missed the second half of the one-and-one and WSSU's Isiah Tucker, a freshman guard who had just checked into the game for offensive purposes, hit a 22-foot three-pointer that cut Howard's lead to only one point, at 57-56 with five seconds remaining.
With the lead at only one point, Myatt's difficulties were not over as he turned the ball over to WSSU's Brian Fisher immediately off of the inbounds play and coupled with a Bison foul, WSSU looked poised to steal a win from the clutches of defeat.
As fate would have it, the player who started the run, Jamal Durham, would again head to the free throw line, this time attempting to tie the game with his first free throw, and win the game with his second toss.
The Rams, a team that shoots only 60.8 percent from the free throw line, and Durham, a junior forward who has hit only 61.7 of his free throws this season to date, would leave no doubt as to the contest's outcome as he calmly drilled both attempts to earn the Rams their first road win of the season 58-57.
Brian Fisher led the Rams with 20 points in the win as he and Durham (10 points) were the only WSSU players in double-figures in scoring. Leading the way for Howard in the loss was Curtis White who recorded 18 points.
The Rams improve to 9-14 overall with the win while Howard falls to 5-20 with the loss. WSSU improves to 7-5 in the all time series versus the Bison as the Rams sweep the season series.
WSSU returns to action on Monday, Feb. 19 as they face the Pirates of Hampton University in Hampton, Va. At 7:30 p.m.
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.
