Johnson C. Smith overcame a sluggish start to cruise past Saint Augustine's, 79-45, Thursday evening inside Brayboy Gymnasium.
The Golden Bulls managed a one-point lead at the end of the first quarter, then blitzed SAU with a 26-10 run in the second quarter to take a 41-24 lead at halftime.
The stampede continued through the second half ending with a 23-8 run in the fourth quarter to seal the deal.
JCSU was led by
Malia Rivers who came off the bench to score a game-high 14 points on 6 of 8 shooting from the field.Â
Blaire Thomas added 12 points and three steals to the Golden Bull performance.Â
DeJane' James and
Le'Zarea Bowens added 10 points each. Bowens was the top rebounder with six.
The Golden Bulls used 13 players and held a 46-17 lead in bench points. JCSU scored 29 points off 26 SAU turnovers and shutout the Lady Falcons for the last five minutes of the game.
St. Aug's Kiana Clark (11 points) and Nia Moore (10 pts) were the only Lady Falcons to score in double figures.
With the win, JCSU climbs to 12-11 overall, 9-4 in the CIAA and 3-4 in the Southern Division.
St. Augustine's falls to 3-18, 2-12 and 2-6.
JCSU now hits the road for two important divisional matches; at Fayetteville State on Saturday (Feb 9) Â and at Claflin on Monday (Feb 11).
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