Maybe it was the fraternities and sororities on campus who had a dance off at halftime that helped with the atmosphere on Monday night at the Gaines Center. Whatever it was, it was certainly an upgrade from earlier home games as 2,300 packed the gym.
I couldn’t help but wonder how much of that great atmosphere will be there on Saturday night when WSSU takes on Shaw at the Gaines Center. Both the WSSU women and men play what boils down to their most important games of the season.
The women’s game, which will start at 5 p.m., should be a good one as the Rams try to keep pace with the Bears. The Rams women have a little more breathing room even if they lose to the Bears as they fight for the Southern Division title.
The men’s game, which will start at around 7 p.m., is more urgent for the Rams. A loss by the Rams would make them a long shot to repeat as Southern Division champions.
Coach Bobby Collins started out with a very deep bench when the season started but that bench is getting thin. Because reserve center Nequan Melvin was ejected for fighting in Monday’s win over St. Aug’s he’ll be forced to sit out Saturday’s game.
It appears that Wakefield Ellison, who was suspended for the last two games for breaking team rules, will be back for Saturday’s game. After Monday’s game Ellison went through a 45-minute workout at the Gaines Center with another player and said he will be ready for Saturday.
“Shaw is undefeated in the division,” Collins said after Monday’s win. “We definitely will have a shorter bench so we have a week to prepare and we’ll have something special for them.”
The Bears, who are the defending conference champions, are 19-2 and have not lost a CIAA game this season. They are 11-0 in the CIAA and are in first place in the Southern Division at 5-0.
The Rams, who are 17-4 and 3-2 in the Southern Division, can’t afford another loss if they want to stay in the hunt for the division title.
One thing Collins was upset about after Monday’s win was poor execution down the stretch. On one breakaway opportunity Justin Glover tried a double-pump slam dunk and missed it badly. It should be noted on the same possession, however, Glover got the ball back and sliced into the lane for a layup.
Still, Collins was not pleased because the Rams were only up by six.
“I want to be more disciplined down the stretch and it was just a three possession game at that point,” Collins said about Glover’s missed dunk attempt. “Anything could have happened so I was unhappy with the dunk that he tried.”
To beat the Bears, who are coached by Cleo Hill Jr., the Rams will have to show more discipline and will have to play tough interior defense.
Collins said even though the Rams beat St. Aug’s on Monday they will have to play a lot better against Shaw if they want to win.
“We have to execute better,” Collins said. “The crowd really had us pumped but we were so excited because we were happy to be back home. I want to apologize to our fans that we weren’t sharper.”
It should be a fun doubleheader on Saturday night.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement