After leading at halftime, Johnson C. Smith opened a comfortable second-half margin before withstanding a late rally in an 82-73 CIAA Western Division victory over Saint Augustine’s College in Emery Gymnasium on Tuesday, February 13, 2007.

The loss was the third straight for the Falcons (15-8, 11-6 CIAA, 3-3 Western), who led the CIAA standings two weeks ago after beating league powerhouse Virginia Union on February 3, 2007. But the struggling Falcons fell behind 36-28 at halftime, and they never led in the second half despite making things interesting in the closing moments.

The Falcons trailed 71-56 with 5:25 left but a jumper by sophomore forward Justin Dickens (Conyers, GA) sliced the deficit to 77-72 with 1:15 on the clock. The Golden Bulls then committed a turnover, giving the ball back to the Falcons, who missed a three-pointer, which would have pulled them within two points. The Golden Bulls (12-8, 10-6, 3-2 Western) then drilled free throws in the final minute to ice the game.

The Golden Bulls relied on a balanced scoring attack to beat the Falcons in an important road game. David Sanders was nine of 10 inside the paint to score a team-high 18 points. Both Ryan Scott and Maurice Hooper added 17 points and Jerry Hollis, a freshman forward, scored 10 points for the Golden Bulls, who shot 54.4 percent and made nine of 14 3-pointers.

Senior 6-1 guard Antonio Fitzgerald (Danville, VA) did all he could to bring the Falcons a win, scoring a game-high 29 points, dishing out six assists, grabbing five rebounds and collecting three steals. Both forwards Claude Neeley (Tallahassee, FL) and Robert Shuler (Newport News, VA) supported Fitzgerald with 11 points each.

But the Falcons were cold from the outside, shooting five of 29 behind the 3-point arc. For the game, the Falcons shot 33.8 percent from the floor as the Golden Bulls swept the season series.

The Falcons will attempt to snap their losing streak on Thursday, February 15, 2007, against Elizabeth City State at Emery Gymnasium. The contest starts at 7:30 p.m.

As a side note, Fitzgerald of the Falcons and Jerome Givens of the Golden Bulls are each one point away from 1,000 points in their careers.