February 1994 The News Argus - Page 7
SPORTS
Rams are Ready to Play in CIAA
BY TOLLY CARR
Sports Editor
The Winston-Salem State Men’s
Basketball team entered the season with
a lot of high expectations. Phenizee
Ransom, the freshman sensation from a
year ago, had become the super
sophomore with his preseason All-CIAA
honors. Patrick “Pearl” Herron was
coming off a year where he had led the
CIAA in assists and steals and William
“Monty” Gray was returning as one of the
deadliest shooters in the league.
Johnny Salley, Carlos Mumford and
Mayiik Deng, all new faces, were
expected to be valuable contributors on
the offensive and defensive ends.
All that looked good on paper. The
Basketball Rams would have to perform
on the court and to prove what was
written in preseason media guides. The
Rams opened the season on the road with
High Point University. This game was
nip and tuck all the way but the Rams lost
by two after missing two shots in the final
seconds which would have the sent the
game into overtime. This was not a bad
loss because a lot of calls went against the
Rams and they were on the road.
At least they did get a lot of dunks in
the game, a sight which over the years
had vanished from the Ram’s program on
a large scale.
Two nights later the Rams were on
the road again at Shaw University, they
started off slow and ran out of gas during
a valiant second half comeback.
The Rams played their first home
game during Thanksgiving break against
Bowie State. The Rams played well from
the start and looked like they were going
to hold on for the win but in the last five
minutes, the Rams stopped executing and
allowed Bowie to creep back and steal the
victory. At this point in the season the
high expectations had turned into an 0-3
record.
The Rams went on the road and
started December in the Ricky Williams
Classic in Atlanta, Ga. The Rams came
back to campus with their first victory of
the season with a one point victory over
Clark-Atlanta but also with a tough loss
to Morris Brown. Free throws were the
factor in that game as the Rams shot 15-
28 from the line.
The Rams were scheduled to finish
out the fall semester with a road game at
Hampton University and a second chance
at High Point, this time on their home
court. The Rams started off slow at
Hampton but made a heroic comeback in
the second half but could pull no closer
than two in the final minute.
The Rams finally got to play in front
of the student body against High Point
and they did not hold back. “Pearl”
Herron had a career high 16 assists and
Monty Gray had a career high 32 points
after hitting eight three pointers.
Phenizee Ransom put in his usual hard
day’s work with 20 points and Carlos
Mumford scored 15 very spectacular
points.
The Rams got a break until the end of
December when they went down to
Wilmington, N.C. for the annual Smoke
On The River Tournament at New
Hanover High School. The Rams got a
split in this one with a victory over
Elizabeth City State in the opening round
but lost the championship game to
Fayetteville State. Phenizee Ransom and
Darnell Middleton were named to the All
Tournament Team for their outstanding
play.
The Rams first game of 1995 was
against the best team they would probably
face all year, Norfolk State University.
To make a long story short the Rams were
never in this game at all. Norfolk Stale,
which features All-American Corey
Williams, took control from the start and
jumped to a 11-2 lead that they never
looked backed from. At halftime Corey
Williams had 22 points and Winston
Salem State’s super sophomore Phen
Ransom had yet to score. The Spartans
led by as many as 40 points in the second
half as they cruised to a 106-72 victory.
One bad thing the new year brought
the Rams was two key injuries which
would hinder their rebounding and bench
production. Johnny Salley was lost for
the season to a operation that removed
bone spurs from his knee. Salley who
stood at 6-7 was an excellent rebounder
and although not on a consistent basis he
could score a lot of points. The other
injury was to Earlon Martin, a backup
point guard, who will also miss the season
with a leg injury. Earlon was by far the
scrappiest player on the team and he
always gave a 110 percent when he came
off the bench to give one of the starting
guards a breather. As a matter of fact
Martin even started a few games for the
Rams. So without a doubt those two guys
would be sorely missed for the remainder
of the season.
The Rams had a four day lay off until
their next game versus St. Augustine’s
down in Raleigh. The Rams were never
in this one as the Falcons blew the Rams
away 81-57.
The Rams next game was a rare
Phenizee Ransom
Sunday game at the Lawrence Joel
Coliseum versus N.C. Central. The Rams
played their hearts out in this one and in
the final minute the game was tied at 81
points a piece. The Rams had a chance
to hold the ball for the final shot but
Monty Gray took a controversial three
point shot with nine seconds remaining
and missed. Central got the rebound and
called a timeout with 5.1 seconds
remaining. Central’s Levelle Moton took
the inbound pass and heaved a
desperation shot at the buzzer from just
inside the half court line. It seemed as if
the entire coliseum went into a dead
silence as the ball drifted through the air
in the direction of the basket and when it
hit the backboard and fell through the nets
the Central fans danced in the aisles and
the Ram partisans looked on in
amazement. Central stole one from the
Rams 84-81.
The Rams packed their bags and
went on the road again for a trip to
Fayetteville to take on the Broncos of
Fayetteville State and to Orangeburg,
S.C., to battle Division I S.C. State
University. The Rams lost to
Fayetteville State for the second time this
year 94-85 and almost pulled an upset at
S.C. State but fell 73-63 to the Bulldogs.
After the two game road trip the
Rams returned home for a five game
home stand that began with J.C. Smith on
Jan. 21 and would be capped off on Feb.
1 versus N.C. A&T.
The Rams got excellent all around
play from the entire team and Otis
Attucks emerged as the heir apparent to
Pearl Herron’s point guard duties as the
Rams barely nipped Smith 73-72.
Virginia State would be next on the
Ram’s menu two days after the Smith
victory. The Rams played excellent in
this one shooting 53 percent from the
field and 70 percent from the free throw
line on their way to a dramatic 87-83
overtime victory.
The Rams next opponent would be
the defending CIAA champion Virginia
Union Panthers. The Rams lead early in
this one but once the Union offensive
machine began to click it was all Panthers
as they cruised to a 92-75 victory.
In the Ram’s next game they had a
second chance versus the Shaw Bears.
The Rams really did not play like a team
that looked like they had revenge on their
mind as they played lethargically in a 70-
63 loss.
The next night the Rams would have
to forget all about the bad game versus
Shaw because it was now time for the
showdown of the year.... The North
Carolina A&T Aggies . The Rams
played the game of their lives as they
jumped to a 15-1 lead in the first half
versus the Aggies. The Aggies responded
to the Rams onslaught by hitting key
three pointers to lead by one point at the
half. The Rams regained their lead early
in the second half and about midway
through the second half the lead switched
back and forth. In crunch time Ransom
stepped up and hit 10 of the last 12 p>oints
for the Rams as they beat the Aggies 74-
65. Phenizee Ransom’s play in this game
probably reminded people of the Earl
Monroe era as Ransom racked up 40
points against the Aggies.
After the A&T game the Rams wer.l
on the road to play Johnson C. Smith in
the Charlotte Coliseum. The Rams
played competitive in this one but in the
end Johnson C. Smith overcame leRams
76-65 to even their season series at one
apiece.
The Rams did not have long to
ponder their defeat because next on the
menu was the St. Aug Falcons. This
game was tight all the way until down the
stretch when the Rams p illed away for
See RAMS page 9