WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Redshirt sophomore, Terrell Leach scored a game-high 28 points, but the Rams second half rally came up short, as Winston-Salem State would fall to #8 Fairmont State, 88-78, Saturday afternoon at the CE Gaines Center.

The non-conference loss drops the Rams to 6-4 overall, while the Fighting Falcons improve to 9-1 overall.

The Fairmont State Falcons revenged last season's WSSU win in Fairmont, W.Va., when the Rams came away with a 80-75 win on the Falcons home floor.

The Fairmont State Falcons started quick and jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, before WSSU's Rayvon Harris would hit a three-pointer, and CJ Ford a layup, giving the Rams their only lead of the night at 5-4.

The Falcons built leads of eleven points several times during the half, but each time WSSU would regroup and make a run back at the visiting team.

By the second media timeout, Fairmont had built a nine point lead, and took their largest lead of the half with 5:13 left, on a free throw, to go up 18 points at 46-28.

Winston-Salem State battled back and used a 15-6 run to end the first half to cut the score to 52-43 at the half.

WSSU started the second half hot, as Rayvon Harris, CJ Ford, Demone Harrison and Terrell Leach sparked a 16-8 run for the Rams who cut the lead to three points at 62-59 with just over 12 minutes left to play.

But Fairmont State would answer back with a 18-9 run of their own, to push the lead back out to double figures, and having the Rams exert more effort to try to get back into the game.

The Rams kept their poise, but could not get closer than seven points (83-76) with just over a minute left to play, and Fairmont State would come away with a 88-78 win over Winston-Salem State.

"This was a good test for our guys", said WSSU head coach, James Wilhelmi. "Our guys battled back from some tough situations in both halves. You have to give credit to Fairmont State, they are a quality ball club", added Wilhelmi.

"We had a couple of lapses down the stretch and they capitalized on them. We will take a week off, and recharge the batteries a little and get ready for a quality team in Claflin on December 31^st", said Wilehlmi.

Winston-Salem State University was led in scoring by Terrell Leach, who playing in only his second game, went for a game-high 28 points, while TJ Wilson added 12 points and nine rebounds. Demone Harrison scored nine points and pulled down six rebounds. Jamel McAllister chipped in eight points. 

Fairmont State was led in scoring by Thomas Wimbush, who scored 15 points and pulled down 12 rebounds, while Jamel Morris added 14 points. Matt Bingaya and Caleb Davis added 11 points each for the Fighting Falcons.

Stat Sheet:
WSSU committed a season high 26 turnovers, and Fairmont capitalized scoring 22 points off the Rams miscues.
 
Tip-Ins:
Winston-Salem State will be off until December 31st, when the Rams travel to Orangeburg, S.C. to take on Claflin University. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:30pm.