March 14, 2009
Final Stats |
Photo Gallery 
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Winston-Salem State University senior forward Jamal Durham walked off of the court for the final time in his college career on Saturday evening at the Joel Coliseum with his head held high despite suffering a 63-56 loss to the Eagles of North Carolina Central University in the "Bonus Game" of the 2009 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Basketball Tournament.
"I have no complaints, no complaints at all" Durham commented in post-game interviews. "Sure, I would have liked to have played my last game and gotten a win, but I would take the guys on this team over anyone. They work hard every day and I would take this team over anyone, despite the difficulties" the 6'6" native of Winston-Salem added.
Despite Durham's upbeat manner, the outcome for the Rams was one that was somber at best following the loss to the Eagles as WSSU closed their second consecutive season with a loss to their Interstate 40 rival in the "Bonus Game" of the MEAC Championship.
Controlling play for most of the contest, the Rams would again hit the proverbial wall midway through the second half as Winston-Salem State could not overcome a nearly four-minute scoreless streak as the Eagles snatched victory away from WSSU and kept the Rams winless at 0-7 in the Joel Coliseum in 2008-09.
"This game is a carbon copy of all the games we have lost this season" WSSU head coach Bobby Collins said.
"If you look back at all the games we have lost this season, especially the ones here in this building, you will see this follows the same pattern. We come out and play with intensity and then, for whatever reason, we hit the wall and it costs us the game. That is exactly what happened tonight" Collins added.
WSSU would control the tempo for the majority of the contest as they jumped out to a 31-26 halftime lead behind a 48 percent first-half shooting performance. Adding to the Eagles' woes, the Rams' aggressive defense held NCCU to only 28.6 percent shooting during the game's first 20 minutes as WSSU enjoyed a five-point lead at the intermission.
Second half action however, would belong nearly entirely to the Eagles. North Carolina Central outscored the Rams 37-25 in the final period as they came from behind to hand WSSU their 22nd loss of the season.
Playing in his final game as a Ram, Durham tallied 14 points and pulled down seven rebounds as he closed out his WSSU career 13th on WSSU's all-time scoring chart with 1,240 points. He also closes out his career sitting atop the WSSU all-time games played chart with 117 games played, one ahead of former WSSU teammate Alleggrie Guinn.
Sophomore forward Paul Davis also chipped in with a team-leading 14 points in the loss and added five rebounds and four blocks.
Leading the way for the Eagles was Bryan Ayala who recorded a game-high 19 points in the contest.
The loss drops the Rams to 8-22 on the season while the Eagles improve to 4-27 overall with the victory. The contest marked the final game of the season for both teams.
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.
