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57th Annual CIAA Men’s Basketball Tournament
Thursday, February 28, 2002
Rams Take Wind Out Of Vikings’ Sails – Advance to 2002 Semi-Finals
RALEIGH, NC – The Winston-Salem State University Rams, the second seed from the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association’s Western Division overcame a sluggish start before going on to the 84-64 win over the Vikings of Elizabeth City State University.
They will play in Friday night’s 9 p.m. semi-final against the winner of the North Carolina Central University/Shaw University quarterfinal.
The Rams led by as mush as 25 points in the second half, but the Vikings started to whittle away and the lead was just 12 at 66-54 with 6:13 to play. The Vikings got to within nine at 66-57 after Tyrone Smith hit a free throw and Ismail Malone putback Smith’s miss on the second attempt.
The Rams immediately responded with a Kamal Oliver layup and a conventional three-point-play by Shawn Alexander to push the lead back to 14 points.
The Rams (21-6) caused the Vikings to turn the ball over 15 times in the first half and they turned it over 25 times during the game.
Guard play led the way for the Rams as Alexander led all scorers with 23 points while Devonaire Deas had 15 points and six rebounds. Forward Marcus Best got his teammates involved to the tune of five assists and Kevin Henry had four assists.
“We played defense and when we capitalize on the turnovers to create buckets, we usually have a good offensive night,” said Rams’ head coach Phillip Stitt.
The Vikings’ turnovers overshadowed a decent night shooting the ball. The Vikings hovered right at the .500 mark for most of the game before ending at 47 percent (26-55). They were unable to get to the free throw line much, hitting seven-of-15 while the Rams sank 21-of 32 from the charity stripe.
Valez Kendric led the Vikings with 13 points while Smith and Courtney Ogelsby scored 11 apiece. Smith was also efficient handling the ball as he totaled nine assists.
The teams were deadlocked at eight with 12:58 when the wheels first started to come off for the Vikings (13-15).
The Rams’ Alexander buried a 3-pointer followed by teammate Oliver who splashed a trey on the Rams ensuing possession. Maynard hit a 3-pointer at the 10:44 mark. With 9:17 to go in the half, Deas was fouled and hit two free throws. He then hit one-of two free throws when Vikings’ head coach Barry Hamler was called for a technical foul which completed the Rams’ 16-2 run and gave them a 24-10 advantage.
The Rams led 40-20 with 2:44 left in the half when the Vikings went on a 10-0 run keyed by four points from Smith.
Maynard stopped the Vikings’ momentum as he buried a long 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded to end the half, pushing the lead to 43-30.