Feb. 9, 2009
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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Coppin State University escaped the Joel Coliseum Annex with a 68-58 victory over the Winston-Salem State University Rams on Monday evening in a contest that, despite the final margin, was tight throughout as WSSU nearly knocked off the defending conference champion Eagles.
The Rams, trying to earn their first win over the Eagles in the third-ever meeting between the two teams, shut off three-time All-MEAC selection and 2008 MEAC Pre-Season Player of the Year honoree Tywain McKee during the game's first 20 minutes of play as they held the speedy guard to only three points, one rebound and two assists in the first half as WSSU forced McKee into a trio of uncharacteristic turnovers in the period.
With McKee struggling on offense, the Rams used a deliberate half court attack en route to scoring 10 points in the paint and nine points off of turnovers as Winston-Salem State, despite shooting only 27.6 percent in the period on eight-of-29 shooting, closed the half deadlocked at 25-25 with the defending MEAC Champion Eagles.
Tied at 25, the Rams opened the half with an Isiah Tucker layup as WSSU earned their third lead of the contest before Tywain McKee would take over and seemingly will Coppin State to the victory.
The senior guard scored 10 of his 13 total points in the second half in addition to dishing out six assists and collecting three steals.
With the Rams trailing by only three points at 43-40, McKee would hit a layup, record two steals and dish out two assists as he nearly single-handedly lead the Eagles on an 9-0 run as Coppin State increased their lead to an insurmountable 12 points.
"He [Tywain McKee] did a fantastic job coming out in the second half and running the team" WSSU head coach Bobby Collins said in postgame interviews.
"We didn't take advantage of him being out in the first half. We didn't capitalize. He is the point guard that every team would love to have and that is the ultimate compliment" Collins added.
Looking to use the long range shot to erase the 12-point deficit, WSSU came up cold from behind the three point line as WSSU hit only six of their 27 attempts from deep as they never recovered from CSU's mid-half run.
Brian Fisher led the Rams with 17 points in the loss as he hit five of his 15 shots from the field including posting a five-of-11 shooting performance from three-point range.
Joining Fisher in double-figures, Jamal Durham recorded 14 points and 10 rebounds in a losing effort.
The loss drops the Rams to 6-16 on the season while Coppin State improves to 8-16 (5-5 MEAC) overall on the season with the victory.
WSSU will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 14 as they play host to Howard at the LJVM Coliseum Annex at 6:00 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.
