Final Stats

WINSTON-SALEM, NC – The Livingstone men's basketball team pulled off a big road upset Monday, defeating the Winston-Salem State Rams 83-65 inside the C.E. Gaines Center.

Livingstone got off to a strong start against the Rams, taking an early 10-4 lead in just over four minutes.  Winston-Salem responded with a 7-0 run to take its first lead of the game at 11-10 with 14:16 left in the first half.  The Blue Bears went back up 16-11 only to have the Rams tie the game at 16-16 with 10:30 on the clock. 

As the first half entered its final 10 minutes, the Blue Bears started heating up from three-point range.  Omar Ford-Bey kicked off a 16-4 run for Livingstone that included four three-pointers, three of them coming from his hand.  The run gave Livingstone a 32-20 lead with 4:47 left in the first half.  After the Blue Bear run, the Rams went on a 12-3 run over the final 4:27 of the first half to get within three at the break, 35-32.

Winston-Salem started the second half just as strong as it finished the first, grabbing the first six points of the period to take a 38-35 lead less than three minutes in.  The two teams then traded leads up and down the floor and Livingstone came away with a 42-41 edge.  Nasir Austin then single-handedly went on an 8-2 run for the Blue Bears to take a 50-43 lead with 12:01 left in the contest.

The Rams got back within four at 52-48, but the Blue Bears then went on another big run, this time a 7-2 spurt increasing the Livingstone lead to 59-48 with 9:17 remaining.  Down the stretch Livingstone locked down on defense and went 10-for-12 from the charity stripe in the final four minutes to seal the 83-65 victory.

Nasir Austin scored a season-high 23 points in the victory.  Mark “AJ” Thomas added 12 points and Omar Ford-Bey finished with 11.  Greg Henry led Livingstone with 10 rebounds and also added seven points.

Livingstone shot a blistering 53.7 percent from the field including 41.7 percent from the three-point line.  Free throws were still lacking as the Blue Bears converted only 58.8 percent of their attempts.  Livingstone forced 17 Ram turnovers and turned them into 24 points.

The Blue Bears will play their final non-conference contest at home on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. against Davis & Elkins.  The Senators defeated the Blue Bears 90-87 earlier this season.