Livingstone College Athletics

Livingstone falls at home to Fayetteville State, 78-73

SALISBURY - Livingstone College men's basketball team fell to the Broncos of Fayetteville State 78-73 as the Broncos move ahead of the Blue Bears by one game in the Southern Division.

Livingstone (6-7 CIAA, 2-5 Division) opened the game with an early 19-11 lead but found itself trailing 37-30 at halftime The Blue Bears shot 50 percent from the field (29-for-58) and won the rebounding battle (39-24), but couldn't sweep the Broncos for the second time this season.

Josh Smith came out with a long three pointer to give FSU (4-8 CIAA, 3-4 Division) a 12-point lead (53-41) with under 15 minutes left in the game. The Broncos held the 12-point advantage (57-45) until Livingstone began chipping away at it.

A 9-2 run by the Blue Bears had them trailing by two points by two (65-63) with 1:26 left, but a Fayetteville State run would give way to a nine-point lead (75-65) with 50 seconds left in the game.

In the final minute of the game, Fayetteville State made 8-of-12 free throws to hold off the Blue Bear rally attempt.

Roger Ray led Livingstone with 20 points while Lydell Elmore was the only other Blue Bear to score in double figures with 13.

Denzell Hosch scored a game-high 24 points with 4-of-8 three-pointers to lead the Broncos. Smith contributed 16 points.

The Blue Bear will step out of conference play on Tuesday in Atlanta, where they take on 11th-ranked Morehouse College. They'll host J.C. Smith next Saturday afternoon at 4 o'clock.