Lemon, JC Smith never trail against Virginia Union, win 85-71

J.C. Smith is taking a winning attitude into the holiday break.

Stedmon Lemon scored a game-high 30 points in the Golden Bulls’ 85-71 CIAA win against Virginia Union on Saturday at Brayboy Gym, their second straight victory after a three-game slide. J.C. Smith improved to 6-4, but more importantly are 2-0 in league games and playing with renewed confidence.

“It was real important for us to pull together and get these two wins,” said Golden Bulls guard Diondre Pratt, who scored 14 points and handed out seven assists. “We set a team goal to go 6-4. We reached that goal but we worked hard in practice to make sure we got these two wins to send a message through the conference that we’re ready to play now and we’re starting to pull together as a team.”

Lemon connected on 12-of-19 shots to lead four Golden Bulls in double-figures and made an impact when J.C. Smith needed to quell a Virginia Union (5-7, 0-2 CIAA) rally.

“I’m just trying to get off to good starts and stay consistent,” said Lemon, who added four assists and four rebounds. “I know I’m the offensive leader for the team, so I’m trying to be more of a defensive leader now and stay consistent on both ends.”

Lemon was especially good after Virginia Union cut the deficit to 60-54 on Devin Moore’s basket with six minutes to play. Lemon scored nine of the next 11 J.C. Smith points on a pair of three-point shots and a three-point play to push the Golden Bulls to a 71-58 margin that forestalled the Panthers’ comeback.

“I think we need to have more of a killer instinct, I think we need to have more of a defensive attitude,” J.C. Smith coach Steve Joyner said. “It’s what we’re working on developing and if not, it’s going to hurt us down the stretch against other teams, especially in close ball games.”

For the second straight game, J.C. Smith never trailed and led by as many as 15 points in the first half. The Golden Bulls, second in the CIAA in scoring at 83.4 points per game, were balanced and efficient with Josh Linson scoring 14 points and seven assists while Robert Davis added 12 points. J.C. Smith dished out 23 assists on 30 baskets.

This story was originally published December 19, 2015 at 9:22 PM with the headline "Lemon, JC Smith never trail against Virginia Union, win 85-71."