Trevin Parks scored a career-high 35 points in the 80-77 victory against St. Paul's
Box Score vs. St. Paul's
Charlotte, NC – The Johnson C. Smith University men's basketball team defeated St. Paul's College 80-77 on Monday evening inside Brayboy Gymnasium for initial CIAA victory. JCSU improves to 3-4 overall, 1-0 in the CIAA, and ends a four-game losing skid; while the Tigers move to 2-4 overall and 0-1 in the conference.
The Golden Bulls faced SPC earlier this season in the 2010 Fresh Coast Classic held in Milwaukee, WI. The Tigers topped JCSU 75-69 in the consolation game; however the game did not qualify as a conference match-up. This contest definitely showed some familiarity between the two teams.
The game reached its eighth tie by the 3:05 mark of the first half. The Tigers went up by six with a little over a minute before halftime. A quick three from senior guard
Ryan Carter (Charlotte, NC) and two free throws from junior guard
James Otey (Roanoke, VA) had JCSU down one (38-37) going into the locker room at the half.
In the second half, the contest remained a nail-biter despite St. Paul's going up by 10 half way through the period. Sophomore guard
Trevin Parks (Hickory, NC) took over down the stretch to clinch the win for Johnson C. Smith. The Tigers went ahead 76-74 with 1:46 left to play after a lay-up from Jason Davis. Parks came down on the offensive end and splashed a three for a 77-76 JCSU lead.
Kedrick Williams tied the game for the 12th time after connecting on his second of two free throw attempts. Both teams committed a turnover on their next offensive possessions. Parks got the ball in his hands again and allowed time to tick off the clock before driving through the lane for a go-ahead layup with eight seconds remaining.
SPC had a turnover on their final possession and Parks sealed the victory with one shot from the charity stripe.
Parks scored a career-high 35 points off 11-19 shooting from the floor and 10-12 shooting from the free throw line. Junior center
Michael Cooper (New Rochelle, NY) followed with 13 points and two rebounds before fouling out. Senior guard
Ronald Thornhill (Alberta, VA) had nine points and reached his 1,000th career point with the performance; he needed to score eight coming into the game.
St. Paul's had five players record double digit point totals led by Maurice Reevey and Kedrick Williams with 13.
Johnson C. Smith jumps back into conference competition on Thursday, December 16th against Virginia State University. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. inside Brayboy Gymnasium.
