Fast Start Pushes JCSU Men to a Convincing 74-49 Win Over St. Augustine's

Charlotte, N.C. (Jan. 20, 2018) – The Johnson C. Smith University men's basketball team started the game on an 18-2 run and handily defeated visiting St. Augustine's University 74-49 in a CIAA Southern Division game at Brayboy Gym on Saturday.

After the Falcons drew first blood on an Ishmael Baldwin basket at the 18:54 mark, JCSU rattled off 18 straight points over the next 4:40 to jump to an 18-2 lead capped by a Christian Kirchman (Roanoke, Va.) three-pointer.

After SAU cut the JCSU lead to 12 points (22-10) a the 10:58 mark, JCSU exploded again, going up by 25 points (39-14) with 5:11 to play, solidified by a huge dunk from junior forward Roddric Ross (Forest City, N.C.).

St. Augustine's would get no closer than 23 points, as JCSU took the 41-18 lead at halftime.

In the second half it was more of the same from the Golden Bulls, as they pushed the lead to 34 points, the largest of the game, after junior Malik Ford (Salisbury, N.C.) threw down an alley-oop dunk from Kirchman that brought the Brayboy Gym crowd to their feet with 9:55 to play.

The visiting Falcons stuggled all game, as they got no closer than 24 points the rest of the way, with the Golden Bulls earning the 74-49 runaway win.

Kirchman led the way for JCSU, scoring 20 points while dishing nine assists. He also managed five assists and added a rebound.  Ross finished with 15 points while going 6-of-10 from the floor while senior Robert Davis (West Friendship, Md.), who was honored prior to the game for scoring his 1000^th point earlier in the season, kept his double-digit scoring streak alive by scoring 10 points.  Davis has scored in double figures in 29 consecutive games.

For the Falcons, who dropped to 9-10 overall, 6-2 in CIAA play and 1-1 in the Southern Division, Kenneth Collins led the way with 12 points, the only Falcon in double figures.  Tyre Gathright and D.J. Harrison each had nine points in the loss, while Falcon star Quincy January was held to just four points.

The win improves the Golden Bulls to 10-7 overall, 3-2 in CIAA play and 2-0 in Southern Division play.

JCSU will turn their focus to hosting the rival Livingstone Blue Bears on Wednesday, Jan. 24. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.