February 25, 2004
RALEIGH, NC - The Golden Bulls of Johnson C. Smith University surged late to
bury the Tigers of Saint Paul’s College 87-66 in the first game of
the men’s CIAA Tournament at the RBC Center on Wednesday afternoon.
JCSU struggled to seal the victory against a feisty Tiger team. With 8:45 to
go before intermission the Golden Bulls held a 17-point lead, but St. Paul’s
went on a 13-5 run to cut the deficit to seven at 36-29 with 3:44 before the
break. The Golden Bulls took a 43-31 advantage into the locker room.
After the break, JCSU came out and opened up a 20-point lead (63-43 at 13:11).
However, the Tigers were not set on returning to their den early. After a Terrance
Martin jumper at the 12:50 mark SPC went on a convincing 15-2 run to make the
score 65-60.
After a Chris Clyburn three and a time out with 5:44 left in the contest, Golden
Bulls decided they wanted to stick around Raleigh for a few more days. JCSU
charged to score 13 unanswered points and closed out the season for the St.
Paul’s Tigers on a 22-6 run.
“They are a very competitive basketball team,” said JCSU head coach Stephen
Joyner. “We’re fortunate to beat a very gutsy St. Paul’s
team.”
The Tigers only had four players in the scoring column. Mike Jones and Martin
finished with 24 apiece, while Greg Moore added 14 points and 13 rebounds.
“They made runs at us, and we couldn’t make a run back,” said Tiger
head coach Jerry Seale about the conclusion of the game. “We didn’t
do as good a job as we thought we could do.”
SPC managed to stay in the game until late despite shooting 42.9 percent from
the field.
Four of JCSU’s starters scored in double figures, including two double-double
performances. John Fulton led the way with 27 points and 13 boards. Chris Clyburn
chipped in 18. Guard Jerome Givens scored 11 points and dished out 11 assists.
Johnson C. Smith squares up against Virginia Union University in the second
round Thursday at 1 p.m.