Box Score
SALISBURY, NC – Senior forward Megail Cannon notched a double-double and the Livingstone men's basketball team downed rival Johnson C. Smith Saturday evening 82-65, snapping a two-game losing skid.
With the victory, the Blue Bears improved to 10-10 overall, 8-6 in the CIAA and 2-2 in the division. Johnson C. Smith fell to 14-7 overall, 8-6 in the conference and 2-2 in the western division.
Cannon scored 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in the winning effort. Senior guard Aaron Caruthers scored 20 points while junior forward Donte Durant scored 15 and sophomore forward Greg Henry scored 14 points.
Livingstone got out to a hot start, taking the first five points of the contest, but the Golden Bulls responded to tie the game at 5-5. After the Blue Bears went back up by five at 10-5, the two teams started trading buckets and each end of the floor.
Johnson C. Smith was able to grab a four-point edge at 16-12 with 11:21 to play, but Livingstone responded with a 13-0 run and took a 25-16 lead with 6:28 to play in the first half. The Blue Bears upped their lead to double-digits at 14 points with 2:53 to play and maintained a double-digit advantage into halftime at 40-28.
Megail Cannon and Donte Durant each had 10 points at halftime while Greg Henry had eight points at the break.
Livingstone grabbed the first three points of the second half to go up by 15 points and the Blue Bears were able to maintain the double-digit lead throughout the remainder of the contest. Johnson C. Smith put together a run midway through the second half to test the resolve of the Blue Bears and a positive response evolved. The Blue Bears weathered the Golden Bulls attack to and secured the victory.
The Blue Bears shot 53.6 percent from the field for the game including 40 percent from beyond the three-point arc. Livingstone won the rebound battle 42-26 and dominated the Golden Bulls in the paint, 32-20.
The Blue Bears will return to the court on Monday when they travel north to Raleigh, NC to face the Shaw Bears at 7:30 p.m. The Blue Bears downed Shaw earlier this season 53-49.
