WS Chronicle

The #11 Winston-Salem State University Rams came up short on Jan. 19, falling to the Saint Augustine’s Falcons 63-61 at Emory Gym in Raleigh.

With the loss, the WSSU winning streak halted at 12 games, and the team fell to 13-3 overall and picked up their first loss in seven games in the CIAA action.

WSSU nearly had the game tied with two seconds left, but two free throws by SAU’s Percy Woods would keep the Rams at bay.

During the WSSU 12-game win streak, the Rams bench had been dominating, but last week, the St. Augustine’s bench outscored the Rams 33 to 11. Another factor, the Rams shot just 45 percent from the free throw line, making just 5 of 11 from the charity stripe. WSSU also committed 17 turnovers, which the Falcons turned in to 20 points.

Justin Glover led the Rams with 15 points, while WyKevin Bazemore added 12 points and Tyre Desmore chipped in 10 points. Michel-Ofik Nzege scored eight points. Marcus Wells led the Rams with five assists and four steals to go with five points.

Percy Woods led Saint Augustine’s with a game high 19 points, while Joel Watson came off the bench to add 11 and Jonathan Crowley, a former WSSU Rams offensive lineman, scored 10 points and pulled down six rebounds for the Falcons.

“This wasn’t our normal team effort,” said WSSU Head coach Bobby Collins. “We didn’t get

what we needed from our bench tonight. They normally have been a strong point for us, but not tonight.

“In order to win in this league now, you have to be able to take care of the basketball

Coach Collins

and take care of the boards. I’m not sure if not playing in five days played a role, but every night is important. We don’t have games to waste. Every night you want to get better, better as a team, but tonight we took a step back”, added Collins. “But I am ready to get back to business and I think it’s better that we have back to back to back games.”

Winston-Salem State was slated to host the Bears of Shaw University yesterday evening after The Chronicle’s press time.