Raleigh, NC - The Shaw University men's basketball team returns to the court for the first time in 22 days as they travel to Winston-Salem, NC in search of their first CIAA victory as they battle the host Winston-Salem State University Rams Saturday, January 8,
Game time is scheduled for 4 p.m. inside the C.E. Gaines Center on the campus of WSSU. Fans attending the game are required to provide a negative Covid test within 72 hours of tipoff regardless of vaccination status. Fans can also watch the game live here.
Shaw (4-4, 0-2 CIAA) will be looking to end a two-game skid after dropping back-to-back CIAA contest to Claflin University and Fayetteville State University most recently on December 15 which was the Bears last outing.
Caleb Simmons leads the charge on offense for the Bears averaging 13.4 ppg. Justus Baldwin follows with 9.3 ppg. Simmons also leads Shaw in rebounds with 7.1 per game. The Bears are averaging 70.6 ppg as a team while allowing 73.9 ppg. Both averages rank Shaw seventh and eighth respectively in the CIAA.
WSSU (7-4, 1-2 CIAA) return to the Gaines Center after a thrilling 90-88 overtime victory over Virginia State University Thursday night. The Rams connected on a three-pointer just before the buzzer in regulation to send the game into overtime where the Rams slipped past the Trojans for their first conference win.
Familiar faces will be on both sidelines Saturday as the Rams are led by former Shaw head coach Cleo Hill, Jr, and Shaw head coach Bobby Collins and assistant coach Wykevin Bazemore make their return to WSSU. Collins led the Rams program for eight seasons while Bazemore starred for WSSU collecting All-CIAA honors all four years.
