Rams 'muscle' their way past Bison

In front of the largest crowd of the season at the Gaines Center Winston-Salem State showed off its muscle.

The Rams wound up with a hard-fought 62-58 victory on Saturday afternoon that was as physical a game as they have been involved in all season.

"My whole body hurts right now," said center Paul Davis, who took the brunt of the hard-nosed man-to-man defense the Bison were playing.

Wearing their third choice of uniforms – red jerseys with red shorts – the Rams shot 49 percent and held the Bison to 34 percent shooting. The sold-out crowd was around 3,200, thanks in part to school officials not charging admission to the game because of uncertain weather conditions.

"I'm very pleased with the way our fans came through and cheered at the right time, and that was a big difference in the game," Coach Bobby Collins of the Rams said about the packed gym that included the ear-splitting band.

What also helped the Rams down the stretch was the play of point guard Andrew Jackson, who missed two of the last three games because of an ankle injury, but was healthy enough yesterday. The Rams also got a boost from Shelton Carter, who has been fighting a prolonged shooting slump.

Carter scored 15 points, including five points on their first two possessions of the second half that got the Rams going in the right direction. Those quick five points gave the Rams a 36-24 lead.

"I've just been practicing all week and trying to stay ready," Carter said. "I was able to come through."

He also came through with 10.9 seconds left and the Rams clinging to a two-point lead. Carter hit both free throws to secure the win as they improved to 9-12 and 5-5 against MEAC opponents. They also improved to 8-2 at home this season.

Davis scored 14 points, had nine rebounds and three blocks as he, Corey Morris and McIntoche Alcius took turns getting knocked around in the post. But the three never backed down, and outscored the Bison down low 34-18.

"They were physical and coach just told me to fight through all of that," Davis said. "We were prepared for that all week and in practice (the second team) was more physical with us than usual because we knew what was coming … I didn't get frustrated."

Brian Fisher added 10 points for the Rams and Alcius added nine points, six rebounds, a steal and an assist.

One of the biggest baskets came with 2:56 left as Jackson fed Alcius for a two-handed dunk that pushed their lead back up to seven. Then with 2:11 to go and the Bison again within five, Davis got a nice pass from Fisher for another dunk.

What Collins was pleased about in the final three minutes was how the Rams attacked the extended pressure of the Bison.

"Sometimes it's Marcus (Wells) time to run the team at the end, and I really expect Drew to do that down the stretch and knock down free throws for us," Collins said. "Both guys did a good job of attacking when they were in their scramble, and I thought that was the difference in the game."

Collins says that two or three players asked to wear the red uniforms, and Collins obliged.

"I like the red uniforms, it's like we brought out the red sea for this game," Davis said. "I didn't know we were going to wear them but when we came into the locker room they were there waiting for us."

The Rams will play Hampton on Monday in their third game in five days, and Davis is hoping for the same kind of fan support.

"It was free admission for this game, but I didn't expect to see a crowd like this," Davis said. "It was a great atmosphere and the fans were into it and we tried to go out and put on a show for them."

The Rams led by six points at halftime, but extended it to a comfortable margin.

Carter said that a big difference was the play of the Rams' post players.

"We have strong post players and we believe in them," Carter said.

The Rams lost the rebounding battle 41-33, but in the second half did a better job of crashing the boards.

"(Assistant) Coach (Tim) Wells was always yelling 'rebound, rebound' and we did a better job of that in the second half," Davis said. "In the first half they outrebounded us so we had to get after it in the second half."

Collins said: "Corey comes in and he can bang and I thought our perimeter players could have done a better job of coming in and helping our post guys out."

Curtis White led the Bison (6-18) with 20 points and Calvin Thompson scored 12.

To close out the three-game homestand the Rams will play Hampton on Monday. Collins, who is in his fourth season with the Rams, used to be the coach for the Pirates.

When Collins was asked if he knew who the Rams play next he hesitated with the answer. "Not at all," he said with a laugh.

jdell@wsjournal.com

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