Febaiary 1989 The News Argus PAGE 9
Sports
BASKETBALL
ROUNDUP
Rams shut down Falcons with
4th quarter defensive stand
By Joyce McMillan
SPORTS WRITER
The month of January was a see-saw
that wouldn't come up for the Rams this
season, and it didn't appear that their luck
was going to change until they hosted the
Falcons of St. Augustine.
Last month they defeated St Augus
tine by a score of 72-70. Rams guard
Chuck Swaringin held one of the keys that
unlocked the door to that win. He repeat
edly scored in must-score situations.
Tied 67 all with 67 seconds remain
ing in the game, St. Augustine's forward
Milton Pouncey was at the line, hoping to
give his team the lead. Pouncey, who had
earlier made two free throws, missed the
front end of this trip to the line. Rams
center Toby Barber snatched the rebound
and once again they were off to the races.
After several passes, the ball ended
up in the "good hands" of Swaringin, who
with St. Augustine's LaShun McDonald
closely pressing was able to connect. That
shot broke the tie and put the Rams up by
two. On the next play Barber made a steal
which led to Rams forward Lance Jones
being fouled and hitting the front end of a
one-and-one.
With 34 seconds remaining, the Fal
cons called a time out to map out their
strategy. St. Augustine's coach, Harvey
Heartley, told his team to take the 3-point-
er if it was open but to look first for a
two-pointer, then press and foul in the
remaining seconds. Swaringin put a
damper on that plan by pressing McDaniel
so closely that he didn't get off a clean
shot and missed.
From that miss. Barber scored with a
breakaway dunk which put them up 72-67
with 15 seconds left to play. The Falcons'
John Willis hit a meaningless three-point
er at the buzzer. This victory ended a five-
game losing streak for the Rams, who had
not won a game since November. WSSU's
Lesane, Swaringin and Barber all finished
in double figures at 22, 17 and 13, respec
tively.
Eagles crush Rams 70-37
The Rams' losing streak continued
when they lost 70-37 to North Carolina
Central University's Eagles in a televised
game. That victory was Central’s largest
against WSSU since 1949 when they beat
them 119-65.
WSSU jumped to an early 8-1 lead,
but lost it on an eight-point spurt by the
Eagles. The Rams were outscored repeat
edly and were not able to capitalize on the
Eagles' 14 turnovers. WSSU trailed by 12
points midway in the second half; but
were outscored again 29-8 with 10:30 left
in the game.
Lance Jones made a pair of free
throws to pull the Rams within 12. Cen
tral outscored the Rams 17-3 within a
4:20 time span. Four players were in dou
ble figures for Central whereas no WSSU
player scored more than eight points.
The WSSU Rams have been strug
gling against their opponents all season.
Their struggle continued when they met
the Trojans of Virginia State University on
Jan. 26.
The Rams put up a valiant fight for
most of the 40 minutes, but the Trojans
overpowered them 91-79.
The Rams cut Virginia State's ’ead to
two points three times early in the second
half. With the score 59-57, the Trojans
captured and kept the control they needed
for the rest of the game.
Falcons shake off struggling Rams
After being victorious over the Fal
cons of St. Augustine's at home earlier
this season, the Rams traveled to Raleigh,
hoping to repeat their earlier feat. No
dice! WSSU lost.
Throughout the game, the Rams were
plagued with turnovers, cold shooting and
foul trouble which made the Falcons' 94-
82 victory an easy one. Although five
players scored in double figures for the
Rams, it was not enough to give them a
win.
Chuck Swaringin, who had been
instrumental in the Rams' earlier win
against the Falcons, was held to only two
points. Point guard Jamaal Pierce led the
Rams in scoring with 17 points. Tony Bar
ber and Mike Phillips each added 14
points, while Lance Jones scored 12 and
Boris Battle added 10 points.
This loss gave the Rams their first
conference loss, making them 4-7 overall
and 3-1 in the conference.
UDC hammers Rams 76-68
The Rams took a road trip to play the
University of the District of Columbia
with victory on their minds, but UDC had
other plans. The Rams were defeated 76-
68 for yet another loss in a non-confer
ence game.
Even though the Rams never led in
the game, they were able to cut the 10-
point deficit that UDC built in the first
half to five points. UDC was ahead 36-25
at the half.
During the game, the Rams attempted
92 shots and made only 27 of them. Many
of those shots were taken during the
game’s final seven minutes when the
Rams were trying to cut UEXT’s 22-point
lead.
Charles Swaringin, who finished with
nine points, hit a three-pointer with 18
seconds left and Boris Battle connected
with a three-pointer at the buzzer. Michael
Lesane led the Rams in scoring with 17
points and Toby Barber had an impressive
22 rebounds and eight points.
Broncos nip Rams 76-74
Fayetteville. WSSU's 76-74 loss nipped
that dream.
Even though the Rams rallied in the
final minute of the game, the Broncos
held them off.
WSSU’s Michael Lesane tied the
game at 74-74. Fayetteville States' Darrell
Harris gave the Broncos a two-point lead
with a little more than a minute to play.
Ironically, neither team scored again even
though both had ample opportunities.
With this loss the Rams are 4-11
overall and 3-4 in the Southern Division
in the CIAA.
Wrestling team peaks
after a rough start
By Marcus Myers
After a dismal start, Winslon-Salem
Slate University's wrestling team endured
stiff competition and now seems to be
back in their CIAA Championship form.
The Rams looked tough as they had
individual champions as well as second-,
third- and fourth-place finishers in all of
the tournaments in November. In Decem
ber the Rams went 0 for 5, losing to
UNC-Chapel Hill, Appalachian, N.C.
State, the University of Virginia and Mor
gan State. This month, the Rams lost Xivc
The turning point for the Rams was a
close loss to Campbell at home. Although
the team lost, everyone wrestled well. The
Rams later U'avelcd to Tennessee for the
Mid-South Tournament. In this tourna
ment, the Rams showed their champi
onship form. James McLinnaham (126),
Andrew Flagler (142), and Willie Mouzon
(158) all were individual champions.
Jimmy Hester (134) and Danny Boden
(150) were runners-up, while Shawn
Williams (177) placed fourth. Coach
Melvin Fair was named "Mid-South
Coach of the Year."
The wrestling team u-aveled to Gard
ner Webb on Feb. 4 and then on to Pem
broke State Feb. 7, before hosting the
CIAA Championship Tournament Feb. 18
in the C.E. Gaines Center at WSSU.
THE SPRING
COLD RUSH IS ONI
Order your college ring NOW.
J( )STM\S
C A SCO
pate Feb. 21 -22 Time '1 0~3 Deposit Required $20
Payment Plans Avai^bte
Place: Student Union Lobby 3; -si ^
MM «n you. Joslem fT»«entaive (x lul rw as Sec our complete rng selerlon on Urstfay r your colleee bookstae
Student Union Bulletins, Telephone: 750-2780
WINSTON-SALEM STATE UNIVERSITY
Bookstore
Virginia State knocks off Rams
Many Rams fans had hoped that
Coach Clarence A. "Bighouse" Gaines
would win his 790tJi game on Jan. 29 in
straight before winning one against Nor
folk State and losing to Virginia State in
the CIAA duals.