Freshman sparks WSSU by Howard

Winston-Salem State continued its roller-coaster season, but at least last night it could enjoy the ride.

The Rams, behind a seldom-used freshman, beat Howard 62-55 in front of 766 at the Joel Coliseum Annex. Jemarcus McClinton stole the show, scoring a career-high 14 points and playing a career-high 27 minutes.

Guard Brian Fisher (15 points) and Jamal Durham (12 points) also helped the Rams (7-16) break a two-game losing streak. Also providing the Rams a spark was Coach Bobby Collins, who took a tumble near the bench when he got a little too close to the action. With 3:29 to go in the half, Collins was giving his team instructions near the end of the bench when Brandon Hobbs and a Howard player crashed into Collins, knocked Collins to the ground in a heap.

"I wanted to dive on the floor for that loose ball myself," said Collins, a former defensive standout at Eastern Kentucky during his playing days. "If it gave the team energy, whatever it takes. I think that did kind of pull them together … I just want to win."

The other Rams on the bench jumped up to the defense of their coach and helped him up, and Collins was unhurt. However, athletics trainer Darrell Turner did give an injury report on Collins at halftime: "Damaged pride."

Said McClinton: "Even coach hit the floor tonight. That pumped us up even more when we saw that."

The Rams never trailed and forged ahead by 13 with 5:41 left in the half. They settled for a six-point halftime lead before opening the game up early in the second half.

McClinton converted a three-point play with 14:06 left to push the Rams to a 43-30 lead.

One reason McClinton saw more action was the slight knee injury of Diontae Gibson, who was held out of the game. That opened the door for McClinton, who hadn't played in nine of the Rams' previous 22 games, and was so far down at the end of the bench he needed a GPS to find his way to the court.

Last night, however, McClinton, who is 6-3 and is so skinny (around 160 pounds) he has to run around in the shower to get wet, came up big.

"Before the game, Coach told me he was going to give me a chance to play and I made the best of it," McClinton said.

McClinton's signature play came with 5:17 left and the Rams clinging to a nine-point lead. He stole the ball at the top of the key, kept going down the court and dunked for a 55-44 lead that put the Bison (7-17) away. It was the Rams' last field goal as they went 8 for 10 on free throws the rest of the way.

"He did some good things," Collins said of McClinton, who came into the game averaging five minutes a game. "Jemarcus' biggest problem is he just needs to remain coachable. He's been so humble playing on the (second team) and hasn't complained, and I just wanted to give him a chance."

McClinton said that adjusting to college basketball hasn't always been easy.

"Adjusting to the college environment has been tough, just being around a team where the guys are just as good as I am or better," McClinton said.

The Rams made plenty of hustle plays with McIntoche Alcius (seven rebounds) doing a lot of the little things. Hobbs also hit the deck and saved a ball from going out of bounds late in the game that kept a Rams possession going.

"We wanted this because our fan base has been getting after us about winning some games," Alcius said. "We came together and had a meeting and we were tired of losing at home. So we just came out and played hard."

The Bison, which has yet to win on the road this season, was a step slow and horrendous on the foul line. It went 13 of 36 (36 percent) from the line, firing up brick after brick.

Coach Gil Jackson of the Bison said he didn't have much of a scouting report on McClinton, but added that the missed free throws hurt them the most.

"We just played poorly," Jackson said. "They deserved to win because they played hard. We started out with a kid missing three straight on the foul line and that was a bad omen."

The Rams jumped out to a 10-1 lead as Fisher scored eight of the Rams' first 10 points. Isiah Tucker had six assists, but the Rams again were again careless with the ball, committing 26 turnovers.

"We talked about playing with passion tonight, and playing with hunger and dedication," Collins said. "We needed to play for 40 minutes and we did that for the most part … We just have to get that energy on the floor for 40 minutes."

The Rams will play Monday night at the Joel Coliseum Annex at 7:30 against Hampton.

■ John Dell can be reached at 727-4081 or at jdell@wsjournal.com.

HOWARD Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A PF PT

Mukole 13 0-2 2-6 0-1 3 4 2

Myatt 35 6-12 3-8 1-4 2 2 15

Kirkpatrick 27 1-2 1-4 0-2 0 1 3

White 34 2-6 1-1 0-6 2 1 7

Riley 16 0-6 2-4 0-1 0 1 2

Walker 30 7-7 1-2 1-4 4 2 15

Hampton 22 3-4 2-7 0-1 0 4 8

Prince 10 0-1 0-0 1-1 0 2 0

Cooper 13 1-1 1-4 0-0 0 2 3

Totals 200 20-41 13-36 7-24 11 19 55

Percentages: FG .488, FT .361. 3-Point Goals: 2-12, .167 (White 2-5, Myatt 0-3, Riley 0-4). Team Rebounds: 4. Blocked Shots: 3 (Hampton, Mukole, Myatt). Turnovers: 18 (Myatt 6, Walker 3, Riley 3, Prince 2, Kirkpatrick, Mukole, Hampton, White). Steals: 7 (Hampton, Prince, White, Riley, Kirkpatrick, Walker, Cooper). Technical Fouls: Hampton.

WSSU Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A PF PT

Alcius 24 2-6 0-0 5-7 0 3 4

Davis 15 1-2 0-0 1-6 0 5 2

Fisher 30 5-12 2-2 0-1 2 4 15

Tucker 33 1-2 2-2 0-0 6 4 5

Hobbs 20 2-2 2-2 0-1 0 1 7

Monger 7 1-2 0-0 0-2 1 2 3

McClinton 27 6-9 2-8 2-5 1 1 14

Durham 32 4-10 4-8 2-6 0 0 12

Bonner 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 3 0

Morris 9 0-0 0-0 0-3 0 2 0

Totals 200 22-45 12-22 12-36 11 25 62

Percentages: FG .489, FT .545. 3-Point Goals: 6-16, .375 (Fisher 3-7, Monger 1-1, Hobbs 1-1, Tucker 1-2, Durham 0-2, McClinton 0-3). Team Rebounds: 5. Blocked Shots: 2 (Morris, Durham). Turnovers: 26 (Durham 4, Fisher 4, Alcius 3, Hobbs 3, Tucker 3, McClinton 3, Davis 2, Monger 2, Morris). Steals: 10 (McClinton 3, Davis 2, Tucker 2, Durham, Monger, Hobbs). Technical Fouls: None.

Howard 25 30 -- 55


Winston-Salem State 31 31 -- 62

A--766.