Livingstone College Athletics

LC defeats Johnson C. Smith, 80-79

SALISBURY — Cameron Burhannon's 15-foot jump shot with 5.1 seconds remaining lifted Blue Bears over CIAA Southern Division leader Johnson C. Smith, claiming an 80-79 victory on Saturday night in New Trent Gym.

Livingstone trailed by a point and had just regained possession when coach James Stinson signaled for a timeout with 21.2 seconds on the clock. Burhannon, a 6-3 senior from Indianapolis, got the nod for the final jumper. He received the ball from Roger Ray took a step backward and hit the 15 footer for the game-winning shot.

Burhannon shot 8-for-12 from the field and finished with a team-high 22 points.

Teammate Ramel Belfield (19 points, 10 rebounds) had a double-double and hit five 3-pointers — including three in a row during a 77-second Livingstone uprising in the second half. When Ray connected from long range a minute later, the Blue Bears had a 61-53 lead with 11:59 to play. It grew to 65-55 when Burhannon buried a 12-foot turnaround jumper from the left side, midway through the second half.

JCSU senior Robert Davis, the CIAA's leading scorer, dropped 18 of his game-high 28 points in the second half. But the Golden Bulls — losers of two straight following a school-record nine-game winning streak — missed 17 free throws (27-for-44) and coughed up a 79-76 lead in the last minute-and-a-half.

The Blue Bears shot 44.6 percent from the floor and made 11 of 24 three-point attempts. … LC closes its regular season with road games at St. Augustine's Wednesday and Winston-Salem State next Saturday. The conference tournament is scheduled for Feb. 26-March 3 in Charlotte.