Golden BullsEdge Broncos in 68-58 Thriller

Charlotte, NC (February 28, 2018) No. 1 Southern Division seed
Johnson C. Smith University continued their impressive season run,
improving to 19-10 to advance and face the winner of the Bowie State
University/Livingstone College contest Friday in the semi-finals at the
Spectrum Center at 9:00 p.m. Fayetteville State University (8-21) closes
the book on their season despite an impressive game falling by 10 points,
68-58.

Josh Bryant added the opening basket at the 18:41 mark to give the Broncos
a 2-0 lead. A back-and-forth half between the teams saw eight ties and
eight lead changes. Johnson C. Smith outscored Fayetteville State 14-10 in
points in the paint, but was outscored in second chance points (5-2), fast
break points (2-0) and in bench points (16-5).

A three-pointer from FSU’s Jeremiah Pope at the 3:55 mark ignited an
11–2 run to close out the half and give the Broncos a 32-28
advantage going in to the half. The Golden Bulls finished the half
shooting 30.3 percent (10-of-33) from the floor, 20 percent (3-of-15) from
downtown, and 55.6 percent (5-of-9) from the foul line while Fayetteville
State shot 38.5 percent (10-of-26) from the field, 41.7 percent (5-of-12)
from behind the arc, and 77.8 (7-of-9) from the candy stripe.

Coming out of the half, JCSU’s Roddric Ross connected on a three-pointer
at the 19:08 mark to tighten the game at 32-31, before taking the team’s
final lead, 43-42, with 12:28 remaining the contest. The Broncos closed
out the game shooting 37.8 percent (17-of-45) from the floor, 34.8 percent
(8-of-23) from downtown, and 64 percent (16-of-25) from the line while
Johnson C. Smith shot 38.3 percent (23-of-60) from the field, 25 percent
(6-of-25) from behind the arc, and 59.3 percent (16-of-27) from the candy
stripe.

The Golden Bulls led by as much as 10 points in the second half and
outscored the Broncos 32-16 in the paint, 19-8 in points off turnovers,
and 4-2 in fast points while FSU led in second chance points (10-7), and
bench points (16-8) for the game.

Ross led the way for JCSU with a game-high 23 points and six rebounds
while the CIAA Player of the Year Robert Davis added 16 in the victory.

Willie Gilmore was the leading scorer for Fayetteville State, contributing
17 points and seven boards in the effort. Bryant chipped in (14) while
Denzell Hosch added 13, rounding-out all scorers in double-figures,
respectively.