Winston-Salem, NC (Saturday, February 12, 2022) – Since February 15, 2020, Fayetteville State has not had the ending it has hope in three of the four meetings against Winston-Salem State. Tonight, in the C.E. Gaines Center, the Rams pulled off a 65-64 victory at the buzzer to send a packed gymnasium into a frenzy.
On the night of February 15, 2020, down by one point,
Jalen Seegars missed a buzzer-beater that led to a Rams' 53-52 victory. A few weeks later in the CIAA Championship game in Charlotte, Robert Colon hit three consecutive free throws with three seconds left to give WSSU a 63-62 win. Both teams are now 11-3 in conference play. Winston-Salem State is now 17-5 overall while Fayetteville State is 16-8. The Rams have a 7-1 Southern Division record to the Broncos 5-3 standing.
Tonight, in a capacity-filled gymnasium, Fayetteville State led by as many as 12 (19-7) mid-way through the first half and held a 30-28 lead at the half. The lead went up to six (36-30) after a dunk by
Zion Cousins with 17:52 on the clock. The game had three tied scores since then with the last one (62-62) with 2:08 left in the game.
WSSU went up by one (63-62) from a pair of free throws by Jonathan Hicklin, who finished with ten points. Both teams missed a series of shots trickling down to made layup by Seegars with 22 seconds left. After the timeout by the Rams, Samage Teel took a failed shot under the basket with five seconds left but Hicklin came up with the offensive board on the opposite side of the rim. Just before the final sound of regulation, Jonathan Hicklin took a left-handed shot that was a dagger to the Bronco faithful as Ram fans rushed the floor in celebratory style.
Darian Dixon's 13 points led four other Broncos who finished with double-digit scoring.
Cress Worthy and
Zion Cousins had 12 points while Seegars and
Koraan Clemonts reached 10 points.
Darryl Myers was the only other FSU player to score.
Javonte Cooke led the game with 20 points for WSSU. Teel had 14 points.
Fayetteville State will honor its seniors on Thursday night in Capel Arena before tipping off against Claflin.
