Feb. 15, 2010
Final Stats
BALTIMORE, Md. – The Winston-Salem State University men's basketball team overcame nearly all manner of adversity on Monday evening in a 70-60 victory over the Eagles of Coppin State University from the CSU Physical Education Complex in Baltimore, Maryland.
The Rams overcame nearly five days on the road, braved an excess of three feet of snow that blanketed the state of Maryland making travel slow and difficult and flourished without their most experienced player as senior guard Brian Fisher, a player with over 1,100 career points and 108 games of college experience sat out the contest due to a concussion suffered on Saturday en route to a double-digit road victory over a MEAC opponent.
The Rams opened the contest on a 7-0 scoring run and never trailed as they used a 61 percent first half shooting performance to earn what would prove to be an easy victory over the Eagles as WSSU completed their first-ever season sweep of Coppin State.
“I thought tonight was a great team effort,” WSSU head coach Bobby Collins said following the game. “We shot well, we rebounded well and we played as a team. We just came out and we were hungrier than they were and we really put together a team effort playing without Fish [Brian Fisher]” Collins added.
The Rams would lead by as many as 17 points in the first half as a smothering WSSU defense that held the Eagles to only 31.5 percent shooting in the contest complimented an effective WSSU offense that scored 28 points in the paint and received 27 points of scoring from the bench in the victory.
The first 20 minutes of play were only a harbinger of things to come as the Eagles could only watch as the Rams never allowed CSU to mount a significant comeback despite cutting the WSSU lead to only three points during the period.
Despite allowing CSU to get as close as three points, the youthful Rams played with the poise of a much more seasoned squad as they calmly mounted an 8-1 scoring run to push their lead back to double digits en route to the victory.
The Rams were led by Shelton Carter who scored a game-high 18 points in the victory and added seven rebounds as he led four WSSU players in double figures.
Joining Carter in double-digit scoring, Paul Davis and Andrew Jackson each tallied 12 points and Marcus Wells added 11 points in the win. Davis added nine rebounds while Wells added five boards and Jackson recorded four rebounds.
The win, the Rams' 10th of the season improves WSSU to 10-14 overall and moves the Rams to 6-7 versus MEAC opponents. CSU falls to 7-17 on the season with the loss.
“It is a major step for us to get to double digit wins,” Bobby Collins said. “We are competing in this league and are playing well against some very challenging competition. We are playing with intensity and passion and improving on a daily basis and most importantly we are learning how to finish games and learning how to win” Collins added.
The Rams return to action on Saturday, Feb. 20 as they travel to Norfolk, Va. to face the Spartans of Norfolk State University.
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.
