Lawrenceville, Virginia – The Mighty Trojans of Virginia State University took the less than two hour drive to take on the Tigers of Saint Paul’s College. Despite leading by as many as 10 and for as long approximately 30 minutes of the 40 minute match, the Trojans slipped to their fourth defeat in the conference with the 77 – 81 loss to SPC.

 

The Tigers took the tip, but it was VSU’s #3 Le’Greg Harrison that made the first basket of the game with a three-pointer. SPC sped down the court and sunk its first shot with a jumper by #24 Jack Browne. The Tigers took an early timeout to dry the slippery conditions. After the game resumed, Trojan #50 Jahmel Raymond made his first bucket to give VSU an 11 – 8 lead. The Trojans trampled the Tigers for a 17 – 12 lead after Raymond tossed in two shots straight and #23 Mark Adams aggressively retrieved his own missed shot and produced the powerful put back. SPC would tie the game at 17 – 17 when #5 Bruce Royal’s made free throw was immediately followed by two impressive lay-ups by #10 Antonio Hargrove. The teams tagged for a second tie of 19 – 19 via a fast break lay-up by the Trojans’ #33 Aubrey Brown and a fifteen footer by SPC’s Browne. VSU unknotted the tie with a 9 – 2 scoring run to take a 28 - 21 lead. The Tigers took a bite out of the Trojans’ defense with two free throws and two baskets by Royal to be within two (29 – 27 VSU). Still, the Trojans edged away from the piercing paws of the Tigers with alternating jumpers by #25 Brian Henderson and Raymond. VSU was led into halftime with a 41 – 36 lead via the applauded achievement of Raymond to make seven of nine field goals attempted for 14 first half points.

 

VSU’s #24 opened up the second half with two quick jumpers that were nothing but net. SPC snarled back to tie the game at 45 – 45 with two free-throws by #00 Shahumaad Jones and baskets by Browne and #22 Tristan Rankin. The third tie of the game (55 – 55) would be born after VSU muzzled the Tigers for a 10 – 0 scoring run and then SPC stumped the VSU for their own 10 – 0 scoring run. After the 57 – 57 tie, the Tigers dethroned the Trojans when Royal’s brisk chest pass became a credited assist with Browne’s bombed three-pointer. SPC stretched their 60 – 59 lead to a seven point margin advantage (68 – 61) with a free-throw and jumper by #20 Hassan Robinson, a made shot by Royal, and then a jumper and free-throw by Robinson. VSU’s Henderson completed a three-point play and Henry sunk two free-throws around the six minute mark to bring the Trojans within two (68 – 66 SPC). The Tigers’ Robinson hit a jumper with 47 seconds left on the clock to give SPC a 77 – 73 lead and mark his 1,000^th point of his career. VSU’s Brown quickly quieted the earsplitting applause with a NBA range three-pointer (77 – 76 SPC). SPC’s Robinson returned to sink a couple more free-throws. The ball was put into the well trusted hands of #22 Michael Johnson. Johnson hit a free-throw to make the game 79 – 77 with only fifteen seconds remaining. Then, the Business Management major “muscled-up” with a Tiger to give the Trojans a big, huge chance to tie or win the game. With just six seconds on the clock, Henry lobbed an inbound pass to Raymond. The 6’7” center swiftly spotted an unguarded Askew standing under the hoop. Askew ascended with the pass, but a last second substitution by Head Coach Edward Joyner proved to be the play of game as Jones skied from some unknown position to block Askew’s attempted lay-up. Royal was fouled upon retrieval of the defensive rebound and sunk the Trojans’ comeback chances with his two made free-throws at the end of the game.

 

Leading in scoring for the Trojans were #5 Rodney Henry and #50 Jahmel Raymond each with a team high 16 points. Additional scoring was provided by #25 Brian Henderson with 15 points, and #24 Michael Askew with 14 points. Raymond reached for 10 total rebounds to gain double double status as Henderson was two rebounds short of a double double. Also, #3 Le’Greg Harrison and Henderson combined for nine of the team’s 12 assists.

 

 

The Virginia State University Trojans travel to Charlotte, North Carolina to take on the Golden Bulls of Johnson C. Smith University. The game will be held on Tuesday, February 7, 2006 at 7:30 p.m.

 

 

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