JCSU Men's Basketball Stuns Winston-Salem State, 81-78
Box Score Charlotte, N.C. (Jan. 28, 2015) – The Johnson C. Smith men's basketball team withstood an early Winston-Salem State rally and rode a big second half to snap a four-game losing skid, winning 81-78 in front of a capacity crowd at Brayboy Gym.
Winston-Salem State was hot from the start, jumping out to an 11-0 lead thanks to a three pointer from Javan Wells and two long-balls from Terrell Leach. JCSU would get on the board when
Stedmon Lemon (Lithonia, Ga.) would throw down a breakaway dunk to make it 11-2.
The Golden Bulls trimmed the Ram lead to five at 13-8 on another basket from Lemon. Winston-Salem State stretched their lead to nine at 22-13 on a WyKevin Bazemore free throw with 10:53 remaining in the half.
JCSU fought back to within four to make it 24-20 on a
Diondre Pratt (Morven, N.C.) jumper with 8:13 to play in the opening stanza. WSSU again stretched the lead to 29-22 after a Davis free throw. The Golden Bulls cut the lead to three at 29-26 on another Pratt layup, but the Rams answered with a three pointer from Donta Harper to make it 32-26 with 3:45 left.
After a JCSU turnover and Ram dunk extended the lead to 36-26, JCSU was forced to call a timeout. Out of the timeout, the teams traded turnovers, then
Markell Lotharp (Marshville, N.C.) connected on the first three-pointer of the night to make it 36-29 with 2:20 remaining.
A dunk from WSSU's C.J. Ford made it 38-29, but the Golden Bulls' basket from senior
Emilio Parks (Ashtabula, Ohio) cut the Ram lead to 38-31 with 19.4 seconds before the break. Following a WSSU timeout, JCSU's defense stiffened, forcing a miss and a fast break dunk from Lotharp with one second cut the Ram lead to 38-33 at the intermission.
JCSU started the second half hot by scoring the first four baskets.
Stedmon Lemon tied the game on a slashing layup and
Robert Davis, III (West Friendship, Md.) game JCSU their largest lead when he connected on a three pointer deep in the corner, putting JCSU up 45-40 with 15:50 left.
A Parks basket for JCSU made it 51-46, and on the next trip down, Lemon connected for three to make it 54-46 JCSU. Lotharp also hit his second three of the game to boost the lead to 57-48 at the 13:29 mark
On the next Ram possession, Bazemore was able to push in a layup and was fouled. His free throw at 12:29 make it 57-53 JCSU.
Lemon would come up big again for JCSU by hitting a three pointer from the right side to make it 66-61 JCSU.
Diondre Pratt then added a jumper off his own miss for the 68-61 lead. An
Emilio Parks free throw made it 69-61 JCSU.
Marcus Walker (Raleigh, N.C.) gave JCSU its biggest lead at 71-61 with 5:41 to play with a tap-in following his own miss.
The Rams were able to knock down their sixth three-pointer of the evening via Marquez Jones to make it 71-64 with 5:29 to play. Following a Golden Bull turnover, WSSU climbed to within six at 71-65 on a Donta Harper free throw.
Another JCSU turnover led to a Marques Jones layup, making it 71-67 JCSU at the 4:10 mark.
JCSU jumped up 77-71 via a Robert Davis, III layup, but WSSU received a tip-in from Javan Wells with 54.9 to make cut into the JCSU lead at 77-73. The WSSU pressure forced a Golden Bull turnover and cashed it in with a three pointer from Wells with 46 seconds remaining to trim the lead to 77-76.
Davis, III was able to hit both ends of an ensuing one-and-one opportunity from the line to make it 79-76 with 23.9 remaining. WSSU then missed a three point attempt and was forced to foul, putting JCSU into the double-bonus. Senior Emilo Parks stepped to the line and hit the first shot to make it 80-76 with 16 seconds remaining. WSSU then got a driving layup from Leach to make it 80-78 JCSU with eight seconds left.
Josh Linson (San Antonio, Tex.) then hit one free throw to make it 81-78 with five seconds remaining.
Following a WSSU timeout, JCSU forced a wild three-point attempt from Donta Harper that missed the mark with one second remaining sending JCSU to the 81-78 win.
Freshman Robert Davis, III poured in a career-high 19 points on a 6-9 effort, including a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line. Junior
Stedmon Lemon continued his hot streak, as he finished with 18 points on an 8-12 shooting effort.
Markell Lotharp and
Diondre Pratt were the other JCSU players in double figures as they finished with 12 and 11 points, respectively.
The Rams were led by WyKevin Bazemore's 18 points. Javan Wells had 15, while Donta Harper had 14 points. Terrell Leach also had 10 points for the Rams.
The win snaps a four-game losing streak for JCSU and improves the Golden Bulls to 10-11, 4-6 in CIAA play. Winston-Salem State dropped to 12-6, 5-4 in CIAA play.
