Charlotte, NC – Virginia State suffered a lost to Johnson C. Smith in an 82-63 decision on Wednesday night in the CIAA tournament at the Time Warner Cable Arena.

Elijah Moore (Yorktown, VA) led the Trojans in scoring with 14 points while grabbing four rebounds. Lamar Kearse (Syracuse, NY) tallied 11 points and Larry Savage (Onancock, VA) chipped in 10 points in the lost.

Johnson C. Smith would jump on the board first as the Trojans would exchange baskets with the Golden Bulls throughout the first half.
The Golden Bulls went on a 7-0 run until Christopher Grier (Stone Mountain, GA) got a layup at the 8:51 mark.

The Trojans would cut the deficit to five points after James Vann (Norfolk, VA) drills a three-pointer with 25 seconds left in the first half.

Moore had 8 points to lead the Trojans in scoring off the bench at the half.

Although the Trojans led in bench points 13-4 and second chance points 10-6, they allowed the Golden Bulls to collect 26 - 12 points in the paint.

VSU shot only 36.7-percent (11-30) from the field, 16.7-percent (2-12) from behind the arc and 66.7-percent (4-6) from the free throw line.
JCSU would open up the second half with a 5-0 run. However, the Trojans ignited a mini run with a steal and lay-up by Vann, VSU would trail by nine points with 13:46 left in the game.

The momentum of the game started to shift after Kearse hit a three pointer at the 8:08 mark followed by an offensive foul called on the Golden Bulls.

The Trojans would score the next possession to cut the lead, 55-50 with less than seven minutes left to play.

Free throws played a critical role in the contest as VSU had 16 opportunities handed to them at the free throw line and made only ten whereas the Golden Bulls took 44 trips to the line and made 37 which gave them the upper hand.

 "I don't think we played particularly well on either side of the floor…we weren't aggressive in going to the basket…they played better than we did tonight. We are a better shooting team than what we showed," commented Virginia State's head coach Lonnie Blow, Jr. 

Though the Trojans continued to fight and put points in the board, it proved too little too late as the Golden Bulls cruised to the 82-63 victory.