Jamal Durham finishes with 17

Box Score
GREENSBORO, February 23, 2008 – Winston-Salem State got four technical free throws with 36 seconds remaining in the game to springboard it to a 71-63 win over North Carolina A&T in men’s basketball action from the Lawrence Joel Coliseum Annex on Saturday night.  

The two rivals, meeting for the second time this season after going nine seasons without playing one another, were involved in a much more heated contest than the Aggies 75-56 win in Greensboro on Jan. 26.

With 1:35 remaining in the game, rebounded a miss from teammate Robert Johnson and was fouled on the play. Wills hit both free throws to put the Aggies down two, 62-60. After the Rams’ Darrell Wonge missed on the Rams ensuring possession, N.C. A&T senior guard Glenn Nelson drove to the basket trying to score and draw contact.

Nelson missed the layup and the rebound fell into the hands of Darius Floyd who was then fouled by Nelson. Floyd made the first free throw, but missed the second. As Aggies center Thomas Coleman went for the rebound, Jamal Durham flew over top of Coleman. The ball went out of bounds and was ruled to go off of Coleman.

N.C. A&T head coach Jerry Eaves contested the call and what he thought was an over-the-back foul and was given two technical fouls, ending his night on the bench. Floyd went to the line and made three of the four technical free throws he was awarded to give the Rams a 66-60 lead with 36 seconds remaining.

“It is something we will discuss with the league office,’’ said Eaves. “It shouldn’t take away from what was a great game for the community and college basketball in general. The tradition of the Winston-Salem State-A&T rivalry is something special and you saw it here tonight. Their fans were alive and wide open like our fans were in Corbett.”

Jason Wills led the Aggies with a season-high 23 points and nine rebounds. Robert Johnson, who replaced the suspended Steven Rush in the Aggies starting lineup, made his first career start and shined by scoring 14 points on 6-for-10 shooting. The Rams were led by Durham who finished with 17 and Darrell Wonge who had 16.

The Rams led by as many as seven in the second half but with 6:09 remaining, Johnson nailed a three in front of the Aggies bench to tie the game at 52. The Rams opened their lead back up to four on a Durham turnaround jumper and a free throw by Wonge to give the Rams a 58-54 lead with 3:03 to play.

Two Nelson free throws moved the Aggies to within two before Roy Peake drove down the lane to put the Rams back up by four. Two Coleman free throws made it 60-58 with 2:20 to play, but Durham scored again on a fade-away jumper to give the Rams the 62-58 lead, which led to the game’s dramatic end.

The Aggies fell to 13-13 on the season but maintained their same conference record because the Rams are not eligible for any conference championships. The Rams did improve to 10-15 overall as the win marked the first time they’ve defeated N.C. A&T since 1995.

The Aggies return to conference play on Monday when they travel to Orangeburg, S.C., to face S.C. State at 7:30 p.m.