Box Score SALISBURY, N.C. - Winston-Salem State's men's basketball team ended the regular season with a heartbreaking 99-98 overtime loss at Livingstone on Saturday afternoon. It snapped a seven-game winning streak for the Rams who have now won 12 of their last 14 games. 'SU finishes the season 18-6. The Southern Division champions are 8-2 in divisional play and 12-4 overall in the CIAA.
The defending CIAA champions earned the third seed in next week's CIAA Tournament and will play the Shaw/St. Augustine's winner at 8 p.m. Thursday in Baltimore.
Samage Teel followed up Wednesday night's 23-point performance against Johnson C. Smith with 27 points to lead the Rams before fouling out with 3:33 remaining in overtime. Javonte Cooke scored 16 points, Rasheen Merlin had 13, Isaac Parson added 12 and Cameron Campbell scored 10.
Xavier Fennell and Jonathan Hicklin each scored eight points. Fennell led in rebounding with nine. Parson was credited with six assists.
WSSU shot 41-72 for 56.9% and 10-21 from the three-point line for 47.6%. The Blue Bears were 37-74 for 50% and 7-15 from beyond the arc for 46.7%. Livingstone went to the free-throw line 29 times, connecting on 18. 'SU only went 11 times, hitting six.
Neither team could get the upper hand in a game that featured 12 ties and 15 lead changes. WSSU's largest lead was nine points at the 9:42 mark in the first half. The Blue Bears could only manage a seven-point advantage early in the second half.
WSSU dominated the paint, outscoring Livingstone 58-38. The Rams scored 16 points to the Blue Bears 10 in points off turnovers. Livingstone scored 18 points off 13 offensive rebounds, while 'SU got 11 on six offensive boards.
The Rams led by seven points with 1:15 remaining in regulation. Livingstone chipped away, and Deshone Hicks' 10-foot jump shot cleared the net as time expired. 'SU held a five-point advantage midway through the five-minute overtime. Hicks hit the game-winner with 17 seconds to go. Parson's three-point attempt missed as the final horn sounded.
