Box Score CHARLOTTE, NC- The Winston-Salem State University Rams secured their second CIAA Championship game appearance in as many years with an 88-70 win against Fayetteville State University on Saturday evening in Time Warner Cable Arena. The Broncos end their season with a 16-13 overall record while the Rams advance to the title game with an 18-9 record on the year.
Winston-Salem State will face Livingstone College on Saturday, February 28th at 7:00pm in Time Warner Cable Arena. The Rams look to avenge an 83-68 loss to the Blue Bears from the 2014 CIAA Championship and hope to claim their 12th CIAA Championship title in men's basketball program history on Sunday.
Winston-Salem State had five players score double digit points in the victory, led by Javan Wells with 19 points. Marquez Jones added 17 points while Donta Harper and WyKevin Bazemore tallied 13 points apiece. Terrell Leach scored 11 points to aid the effort. Bazemore grabbed a game-high 16 rebounds (three offensive, 13 defensive). The Rams shot 52.9% from the floor in the contest.
Winston-Salem State head coach, James Wilhelmi noted, "The theme of the game for our guys tonight was to be thankful…We wanted our guys to be thankful to be in this game…We wanted them to grasp the moment and they did. We started out slow offensively but we got it worked out and got it done."
Joshua Dawson and Juwan Addison each notched 16 points for the Broncos while Antony Shelton scored 10 points in the setback. Fayetteville State shot 36.5% from the floor over the course of the game.
Fayetteville State head coach Alphonza Kee stated, "First and foremost great job to Winston-Salem State. Heading into this game I thought we were ready to play and that we were motivated but we hurt ourselves. We were tight and Winston-Salem State settled early and made some good shots and we didn't. Well deserved to Winston-Salem State. They are a well-coached team."
The first three minutes of play saw six turnovers, three from each team with neither team able to gain momentum.
Bazemore connected with a free throw for Winston-Salem State less than one minute into the contest. Addison's steal and layup gave Fayetteville State an early 2-1 edge at the start of the first half. At the 17:08 mark, Wells drained a three-pointer to give the Rams a 4-2 advantage. Devin Thompson answered with a three-pointer for the Broncos but the Rams quickly answered back with a jumper by Donta Harper to push Winston-Salem State ahead 8-5 by the 16:25 mark in the first half.
Shelton's bucket followed by Carl McCray's three-pointer shifted the momentum back to the Broncos and forced a timeout by Winston-Salem State. Trailing 10-8, Jones' free throw and Leach's jumper gave the Rams a narrow 11-10 advantage with 14:00 on the clock.
Torian Showers' layup for the Broncos followed by Leach's three-pointer for the Rams made the score 14-12 in favor of Winston-Salem State by the second media time out of the contest. Two made free throws by Fayetteville State's Addison knotted the score 14-14.
Wells' basket for Winston-Salem ended a two-minute scoring drought and gave the Rams a 16-14 advantage with 10:04 on the clock. Addison's two made free throws for Fayetteville State tied the score for the second time in two minutes with just under ten minutes on the clock.
Kerry Campbell's bucket on the Rams' next possession sparked a 16-1 run for Winston-Salem State and left the Broncos trailing 32-17 with 7:06 remaining before halftime. Harper's three-pointer with 6:47 on the clock pushed the Rams ahead 35-17 while Addison connected on two free throws for the Broncos to make the score 35-19 with just under five minutes left in the first half.
Jones' three-pointer at the 3:56 mark gave the Rams a 41-22 advantage and a 19 point cushion. The Rams held a commanding lead of 14 points or more for the remainder of the first half. With just under one minute left before halftime, Jones connected on two free throws to hand the Broncos a 20 point deficit (52-32).
Fayetteville State closed out the half with buckets by Anthony Shelton and Addison but still trailed 52-36 heading into the locker room at halftime. Winston-Salem State shot 60.5% from the floor in the first half while holding the Broncos to a 40.7 shooting percentage.
Showers opened the second half with a layup for Fayetteville State and Dawson took advantage of three free throw opportunities to get the momentum going for the Broncos. Addison's bucket capped a 7-0 run for the Broncos at the start of the second half before back-to-back three pointers by Winston-Salem State's Wells and CJ Ford pushed the Rams ahead 58-43.
Gatluak Thiep responded with a dunk for the Broncos but the Rams continued to build on their momentum with an 8-0 run to pull away 66-45 by the second media time of the second half. Down but not out, Fayetteville State answered with an 8-0 run of their own to make the score 68-53 with nine minutes to play.
The Rams used layups by Bazemore and Wells to pull away 72-53 with 7:40 remaining in the contest. Fayetteville State was unable to overcome the deficit and trailed by 16 or more points for the remainder of the game before Winston-Salem State clinched the 88-70 win with a layup by Muhammad Tijani.
