Final Stats
SALISBURY, NC – The Livingstone men's basketball team fell Saturday 74-54 to the Winston-Salem State Rams inside New Trent Gymnasium.
The first 10 minutes Saturday were very even with the lead changing hands four times, but the Blue Bears were able to squeak out a five-point lead over the Rams. Winston-Salem fought back to tie the game at 13-13, but a quick run by the Blue Bears gave them a 17-13 lead.
The Livingstone lead was short-lived as the Rams then went on a 13-0 run to open a 26-17 lead with 3:29 remaining in the first half. The Blue Bears were able to fight their way back within four, but a three-pointer by the Rams with 10 seconds left gave Winston-Salem a 34-27 lead at halftime.
Winston-Salem quickly pushed their lead to double digits at the start of the second half, leading by 13 with 15:25 left in the contest. The Blue Bears then went on a 10-1 run to cut the Ram lead down to four with 11:58 on the clock.
Livingstone couldn't come up with the key defensive stop or bucket after the four-point deficit and Winston-Salem was able to go on an 8-0 run to take its lead back to 12 at 51-39 with 8:34 remaining. The Blue Bears got the lead back down to eight with 2:15 left, but another run by the Rams solidified the victory for Winston-Salem.
Mark “AJ” Thomas led the Blue Bears with 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field including going 2-for-4 from beyond the arc. Nasir Austin also added 12 points while Tyler Johnson led the Blue Bears on the boards with seven rebounds.
Livingstone shot 35.8 percent from the field, but managed to connect only 3-of-17 three-point attempts. The Blue Bears also converted 81.3 percent of their attempts from the charity stripe.
Livingstone will remain at home for a Monday showdown with the Bears of Shaw University. Shaw is currently ranked 14th in Division II and the Blue Bears took Shaw into overtime only a week ago. Game time Monday is set for 7:30 p.m.
