Staff Reports

Albany – Junior point guard Mecca Frost had 15 points and five assists, and sophomore guard Keidra Green added 15 points and five rebounds to lead the Albany State Lady Rams to an 82-69 victory over the Paine College Lady Lions, while men’s senior forward Jamorris Gaines scored 25 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead the Albany State Golden Rams to a 78-68 win over the Paine College Lions. With the win, the Lady Rams improves to 12-3 overall, 7-1 in the SIAC and ASU’s mens team improves to 8-8 overall and 5-3 in the SIAC. The Lady Rams are now in first place in the SIAC East Division., . Paine falls to 7-9, 3-4.

The Lady Rams were never seriously challenged during the contest. With the score tied at two at the 17:22 mark, Albany State went on a 21-3 run to take a 23-5 lead with 12:53 left in the half. A basket by Dominique Bryant gave the ASU a 44-21 advantage at intermission.

In the second half, the Lady Rams continued to use defensive pressure and crisp passing to increase their lead. A three-pointer by Green provided Albany State with its largest lead, 67-31, with 9:35 remaining in the game. Paine did make a run in the final minutes against the ASU reserves, but never seriously threaten to make a comeback.

Artisha Holston recorded her sixth double-double of the season with 14 points and 12 rebounds for Albany State.

The Lady Rams shot 29-64 (45.3%) from the field, 5-21 (23.8%) from three-point range and 19-34 (55.9 %) from the free throw line. They also recorded 21 assists and forced Paine into 20 turnovers.

ASUIn the first half, the Golden Rams took their first lead of the game when Gaines hit a jumper to give his team a 10-8 advantage. Albany State would never trail for the rest of the afternoon. Led by Doug Storey’s torrid outside shooting from the outside, Albany State built a 32-22 edge with 7:07 left in the half. ASU was able to take a 37-33 lead into intermission.

Albany State was able to fight off several second half runs by Paine. Gaines scored 14 points in that stanza to help the Golden Rams keep their edge. The Lions could get not closer than two points, as ASU hit enough free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.

Joe Williams added 13 points, three blocks and three assists for Albany State. Storey netted 13 points off the bench.

The Golden Rams shot 23-51 (45.1%) from the field, 9-21 (42.9%) from three-point range and 23-32 (71.9%) from the free throw line. They recorded 16 assists on the night.

Both teams will return to action on Saturday, January 25th when they travel to Orangeburg, South Carolina to face the Claflin University Panthers. Tip-off for the women’s game is slated for 1:30 p.m, with the men starting up at 3:30 p.m.