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58 thAnnual CIAA Basketball Tournament
Rams Use Run To Get Past Trojans
February 26, 2003 - RALEIGH – The Winston-Salem
State men’s basketball team closed out the game on a 16-2 run to
defeat Virginia State 54-49 in first round action of the CIAA Tournament
at the RBC Center.
Winston-Salem held Virginia State to 24 percent shooting in the first
half and held a 28-17 halftime lead. Virginia State used a 13-2 run to
take the lead 32-30 on a dunk by Kanadi Hall with 10:54 remaining in the
second half. With the score tied at 38-38 with 6:02 remaining in the second
half, Virginia State went on a 9-0 run and held a 47-38 lead with 3:25
remaining. The Trojans then turned the ball over on four-straight possessions
as the Rams took the lead for good on a lay-up by Jonathan McIntyre with
1:51 remaining. The Rams were cold the first 17:30 of the second half
scoring only 10 points. In the last 1:04 they scored 10 points.
“The most important thing is to advance,” said Rams head coach
Phillip Stitt. “The guys that didn’t play well can erase it
from their memory banks. We did what we had to do to advance. “
McIntyre was also key down the stretch with free throw shooting. Normally
a 51 percent shooter from the line on the season, he made 7-of-7 free
throws in the game.
“McIntyre was tremendous down the stretch. He canned his free throws
and that’s been a sore spot, making our free throws down the stretch.”
McIntyre led the Rams in scoring with nine points. Hall and Bryan Scott
had 12 points a-piece for the Trojans.
The Rams will play Virginia Union tomorrow at 3:00 p.m.