J.C. Smith struggled in CIAA opener. Then Roddric Ross found his zone.
Roddric Ross was in a zone of his own in his first CIAA tournament game.
The Johnson C. Smith forward dropped a game-high 23 points, including 21 in the second half to propel the Golden Bulls to a 68-58 win against Fayetteville State in Wednesday’s quarterfinal at Bojangles’ Coliseum. Ross struggled in the first half with two points on 1-of-6 shooting, but turned it on after the break to spark J.C. Smith (19-10) to a season sweep of the Broncos (8-21).
The Golden Bulls struggled to find the range early, managing 30.3 percent accuracy in the first half compared to Fayetteville State’s 38.5 percent. Ross solved that issue by getting to the basket at will after Robert Davis put J.C. Smith in front for good with a pair of free throws for a 44-42 advantage with 12:30 to play.
Three who mattered
Roddric Ross: J.C. Smith junior forward scored all but two of his 21 points in the second half to spark the Golden Bulls.
Denzell Hosch: A major reason why Fayetteville State led at halftime with 13 points off the bench on 3-of-5 shooting from 3-point range.
Robert Davis: The CIAA player of the year scored 16 points, 10 in the first half.
Observations
▪ Fayetteville State’s bench got the better of J.C. Smith in the first half, outscoring the Golden Bulls’ reserves 16-5. They finished with a 16-8 margin.
▪ J.C. Smith shot 48.1 percent in the second half (13-of-27) to finish at 38.3 percent for the game.
▪ Neither team was particularly good at free throws, with J.C. Smith connecting on 16-of-27 (59.3 percent) compared to Fayetteville State’s 16-of-25 (64 percent).
Worth mentioning
▪ Golden Bulls are off Thursday and play in the semifinals Friday at 9 p.m.
▪ Willie Gilmore paced the Broncos with 17 points on 4-of-9 shooting and 7-of-10 free throws.
▪ J.C. Smith last won the tournament in 2009, the school’s third championship – all with Steve Joyner as coach.
Results and pairings for the CIAA men’s and women’s basketball tournament. Games Thursday through Saturday will be played at the Spectrum Center:
Men
Wednesday’s scores
Livingstone 99, Elizabeth City State 95
Virginia Union 86, Winston-Salem State 72
Virginia State 49, Saint Augustine’s 45
Johnson C. Smith 68, Fayetteville State, 58
Thursday’s pairings
Shaw vs. Virginia Union, 7 p.m.
Bowie State vs. Livingstone, 9 p.m.
Women
Wednesday’s scores
Virginia Union 89, Chowan 58
Bowie State 74, Fayetteville State 62
Thursday’s pairings
Virginia State vs. Winston-Salem State,
1 p.m.
Johnson C. Smith vs. Lincoln, 3 p.m..
This story was originally published March 1, 2018 at 12:24 AM with the headline "J.C. Smith struggled in CIAA opener. Then Roddric Ross found his zone.."