Rams CIAA hopes crushed in first round of tourney

COURTESY OF WSSU WEBSITERALEIGH, NC Once again the Winston-Salem State University men’s basketball team failed to play a full 40 minutes, and once again, it led to a loss for the Rams. The Rams fell to the Trojans of Virginia State University for the second time in the 2003-04 season on Wednesday evening and were summarily eliminated from the 2004 CIAA Basketball Championship Tournament after being dealt a 67-58 loss. The contest, one that started out as a back and forth affair, saw the Rams lose the contest in the first half. “As everyone that watched the game knows, we lost it in the first half. As was a trend in the second half of this season, we dug ourselves a hole, and couldn’t quite dig out. That led to the loss. We just didn’t come to play in the first half.” WSSU Head Coach Philip Stitt said of his team’s effort. The Trojans took their first lead of the contest, one that they would never relinquish, only nine minutes into the game. Back-to-back three-point field goals made it 13-9 as Virginia State started to hit a stride that would ultimately earn them the victory. VSU built their lead to a game-high 14 points with just 4:41 remaining in the first half of play, and would take an 11-point cushion to the locker room, leading 33-22 when the first period came to a close. The second half of play saw a determined Winston-Salem State University team make several runs as they looked to get back into the contest. A 10-2 run trimmed VSU’s lead to one point with 13:11 remaining in the game but the Rams failed to retake the lead on their next three consecutive possessions. After failing to earn an advantage, the Rams fell behind again, and were never able to regroup, despite a valiant effort. “We played good defense in the second half, and really came out determined. We are not a big team, and we know that we have to pride ourselves on our defense if we want to win. We just came up short tonight. That first half hurt us” senior guard Vince Sessoms said in the post-game press conference. Sessoms, who turned in, arguably, his best performance of the season was unable to help his team regain the lead, and would ultimately conclude his college playing career with a loss despite scoring a season-high 18 points. The Rams finish the season, Head Coach Philip Stitt’s third as Head Coach of the Rams at 16-12 overall (6-10 CIAA). The record is an improvement over the 2002-03 season when Stitt guided the Rams to a 15-14 overall mark despite the fact that the current edition of the Rams consisted of seven players who were either freshman or sophomores. Stitt summed up his team and this season with this final comment: “We are a young team, and I think that the beginning of the season saw us playing above everyone’s expectations, including our own as coaches.” The second half of the season was a roller coaster ride. After the Queens game [a 78-58 victory over then #7 in the nation Queens University] we were up and down and were a bit disappointing. With seven freshman and sophomores, I think some of our guys underestimated the length of a college basketball season. But we are a young team and will continue to improve.”