WINSTON-SALEM, NC – The Winston-Salem State mounted a furious second half comeback, overcoming a 16 point second half deficit, as the Rams defeated the Golden Bulls of Johnson C. Smith, 78-73 Wednesday evening at the CE Gaines Center.

The win improves the WSSU Rams to 9-11 overall, 3-6 in the CIAA and 3-1 in the Southern Division. Johnson C. Smith falls to 10-9 overall, 5-5 in the CIAA and 3-1 in the Southern Division.

Winston-Salem State and Johnson C. Smith battled through the early minutes of the game and neither team could put a big enough run together to put any distance between the other.

WSSU would managed to put a string of defensive and offensive plays together, and a Terrell Leach 3-pointer gave the Rams a five point lead at 23-18.

Johnson C. Smith would use a 5-1 run over the last 1:24 of the half to take a 34-30 lead into the locker room at the half.

Johnson C. Smith began the second half on fire, and used a 16-7 run to race out to a 53-37 lead, midway through the half.

But it was the home standing WSSU Rams that had other intentions for this longtime rivalry.

WSSU would begin to chip away the Golden Bull lead, getting contributions from every player that took the floor, and in a matter of a few minutes had cut the lead to single digits, through tough defense, timely scoring and tremendous effort and strong support from a packed CE Gaines Center.

With JCSU still holding a seven point lead with five minutes left to play, once again the Rams dug in and a William Crandell layup started the comeback for the Rams.

Consecutive baskets from Carlos Rankins, Keith Armstrong and Rayvon Harris pulled the Rams to within two, at 68-66 with just over three minutes left.

Rayvon Harris would tie the game at 68-68, and a CJ Ford layin with 1:47 remaining gave the Rams their first lead since early in the game.

Terrell Leach would give the Rams the lead for good, on an inside shot, at 72-70, and Rayvon Harris would seal the game for WSSU, going six for six down the stretch at the free throw line to secure the win for the Rams.

Winston-Salem State was led in scoring by Rayvon Harris, who had a monster night, finishing with 18 points, 14 rebounds and one assists, while Keith Armstrong and Terrell Leach each finished with 16 points. Armstrong also pulled down seven rebounds, had one blocked shot and one assist. Leach added three rebounds and three assists. William Crandell scored nine points, to go with two rebounds, two steals and an assist. Jamel McAllister chipped in seven points, five rebounds and two steals.

Johnson C. Smith was led by Robert Davis who scored 22 points, and Stedmon Lemon added 16 points, eight rebounds and two steals. Diondre Pratt chipped in nine points and nine rebounds and Alandre Davis finished with seven points, five rebounds and three blocked shots.

Winston-Salem State University will travel to arch rival, Livingstone College on Saturday, with tipoff scheduled for 4:00 pm.

Stat Sheet
Winston-Salem State won the battle of points in the paint, 50-42 and dominated bench scoring, 38-11.

Tip-Ins
There were eight ties and 13 lead changes in the contest.