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Rams romp 85-61
WSSU shoots 53 percent to beat Columbia Union
Journal Photo by Lauren Carroll
Lamar Monger of Winston-Salem State dishes off a pass to a teammate.
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Published: January 6, 2009
With less than 100 fans at the Gaines Center last night, hearing Coach Bobby Collins of Winston-Salem State wasn't a problem.
While the Rams had an easy time in an 85-61 win over NAIA Columbia Union, Collins let his starters have it early in the second half during a timeout. The Pioneers had chopped a 28-point deficit to 16 and Collins yanked his five starters out of the game and gave them a verbal thrashing for all to hear.
"He let us have it," said point guard Isiah Tucker of the Rams, who helped the Pioneers make a run with some costly turnovers.
An ill-advised lob pass off an out-of-bounds play from Tucker to Paul Davis started the run for the Pioneers, who fell to 1-12 but showed plenty of grit.
Point guard Jamie Newton scored on a three-point play with 17:23 left to cut the Rams' lead to 46-30. Collins had seen enough and he called the timeout to let off some steam.
"It was a loss of intensity," Collins said. "I knew that one bad shot or one bad turnover would give them a spark and we threw an ill-advised lob pass and it started a run for them."
Collins let the starters sit for a good three minutes before putting them back into the game. The message was clear, according to Davis.
"He pulled us out because we weren't disciplined and were throwing the ball away," Davis said. "He will pull us out like that, but we asked if we could go back in and then we stopped turning the ball over and got stops on defense and executed on offense."
The Rams buckled down and went on a 13-5 run to end any chance of another comeback by the Pioneers.
"It woke us up," Tucker said. "And it was all on me because it was my mistake that got them going. It was an ill-advised lob turned into more than just one mistake and we had four turnovers in a row.… He pulled us all out and made sure that we know he was upset."
The Rams had 21 turnovers, but offset that by shooting a season-high 53 percent from the field. It was their second home game of the season and they improved to 2-0 in the Gaines Center and 4-8 overall, but they will play their 10 remaining home games at either Joel Coliseum or the Annex.
Of the 15 players who saw action for the Rams, 14 managed to score. Brian Fisher led the way with 19 points, Jamal Durham had 15 and Davis had 10 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots.
Tucker had six assists and three steals. Tucker and Diontae Gibson had back-to-back steals and layups that pushed the Rams' lead to 61-37 with 12:28 to go. Their biggest lead came when Fisher made a 3-pointer with 10:44 left for a 29-point advantage.
"One thing I wanted to do was drive the basketball against their defense," Collins said.
The Rams enjoyed a height advantage and constantly fed the ball to the 6-9 Davis and 6-10 Corey Morris. The Rams dominated the boards by a 47-30 margin as Morris had his best game of the season (six points, four rebounds).
After banging their heads against top-flight teams such as fourth-ranked Wake Forest, N.C. State and Georgia Tech earlier this season, Collins said that it was nice to have a breather.
"One thing I told my team was for once we were the Wake Forest and the N.C. State and were the favorite and they were the underdog," Collins said. "We had to play like the favorite."
The Rams, who improved to 8-0 all-time against the Pioneers, never trailed and led by 25 at halftime.
Because the students are still on break, there were plenty of empty seats, but Davis said that's not something that the Rams worry about.
"I mean, it's nice to have more fans but we really have to create our own atmosphere," Davis said, "so we have to play for each other."
Davis was also sporting a new haircut, something he got the day after Christmas. For his two seasons at WSSU, Davis has worn long braids, but now has a clean-shaven look.
Collins joked: "He's quicker since he cut his hair and he's starting to think a little better, so that long hair was holding him back."
Davis said that so far the new look has paid off in 2009.
"I feel quicker, I feel good and I look good," Davis said, "it's a new year and a new look."
The Rams will play Saturday at Maryland-Eastern Shore. They won't return home until Jan. 24 against N.C. A&T in a game that will be played at Joel Coliseum.
Note: Donald Simms, a 5-11 walk-on freshman guard from Thomasville, has left the Rams. Simms played in six games for a total of 33 minutes and did not score. He took one shot and had two assists, three turnovers and four fouls.
■ John Dell can be reached at 727-4081 or at jdell@wsjournal.com.
COLUMBIA UNION -- Linton 3-5 0-1 6, Sampson 2-5 1-1 5, Newton 2-9 5-7 9, McNair 5-15 6-6 17, Clark 3-9 1-4 8, Adetusoye 1-2 0-0 2, Moore 2-4 0-0 5, Amour 3-5 0-0 6, Hardy 0-1 0-0 0, Manuel 0-0 0-0 0, Johnson 1-2 1-2 3. Totals 22-57 14-21 61.
WINSTON-SALEM STATE -- Durham 3-7 9-12 15, Davis 4-5 2-5 10, Fisher 8-10 0-0 19, Gibson 3-8 2-2 9, Tucker 2-5 0-1 4, Monger 1-2 2-3 4, McClinton 4-7 0-0 8, Bolton Jr. 0-1 1-2 1, Bonner 1-1 0-0 2, Hobbs 1-4 0-0 2, Slocum 1-1 1-2 3, Alcius 0-1 0-0 0, Morris 3-7 0-1 6, Murphy-Long 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 32-61 17-28 85.
Halftime--Winston-Salem State 42-17. 3-Point Goals--Columbia Union 3-19 (Moore 1-3, McNair 1-4, Clark 1-5, Linton 0-1, Newton 0-6), Winston-Salem State 4-13 (Fisher 3-4, Gibson 1-2, Bolton Jr. 0-1, McClinton 0-1, Monger 0-1, Hobbs 0-2, Tucker 0-2). Fouled Out--Monger. Rebounds--Columbia Union 30 (Newton 7), Winston-Salem State 47 (Davis 7). Assists--Columbia Union 15 (Newton 8), Winston-Salem State 13 (Tucker 6). Total Fouls--Columbia Union 18, Winston-Salem State 20. A--100.
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