Staff report

CHARLOTTE — Livingstone lost its second straight CIAA road game here Saturday evening, falling to Johnson C. Smith, 91-84, at Brayboy Gymnasium.

With the loss, Livingstone falls out of first place in the CIAA’s Southern Division with a 6-3, a half-game behind Shaw (7-3). The Blue Bears are now 15-9 overall and 8-7 in all conference games.

Like last Wednesday’s road loss at Fayetteville State, Livingstone fell to a team with a losing record. J.C. Smith improves to 8-15 overall, 5-11 in the CIAA and 4-6 in the division.

Livingstone had already defeated the Golden Bulls once — 85-75 on Jan. 26 in Salisbury.

The Blue Bears led by as many as six points in the first half, but the Bulls held a slim, 41-39 advantage at halftime.

LC shot 51 percent from the floor in the first half (15-of-29) and made 7-of-10 free throws, but nine turnovers were costly. The Blue Bears ended up with 16 turnovers for the game, compared to just eight for JCSU.

For the first part of the second half, the game was nip-and-tuck. Livingstone took its final lead when guard Cameryn Carpenter drilled a 3-pointer to make it 61-59 at the 11:12 mark.

But the Bulls regained the lead for good with 7:58 remaining in the contest, Trevor Lewis hit a jumper for a 67-66 advantage.

JCSU continued to build on its lead, reaching nine points at 79-70.

The Blue Bears had one last run, cutting the deficit to 88-84 on two free throws from Carpenter with just 12 seconds left.

The Bulls iced the game with free throws and a last-second dunk from Roddric Ross.

Livingstone star guard Roger Ray led all scorers with 30 points, 15 in each half. Ray made 11-of-22 shots from the floor and 5-of-7 free throws. Carpenter added 13 points and post player Lydell Elmore grabbed 11 rebounds for Livingstone.

Cayse Minor led the Bulls with 27 points, including 11-of-12 from the foul line. Lewis followed with 21 points while Ross added 13 and Antonio Harper had 11.

JCSU shot 50 percent for the game from the field (28-of-56).

NOTE: The Blue Bears return to action on Monday at Claflin (7:30 p.m.).

LIVINGSTONE (84) — N. Elmore 8, Ray 30, L. Elmore 8, Grant 5, Carpenter 13, Lewis, Fykes, Smith 7, Handley 4, Harris 2, McNeill 7, Tate, Dupree.

JOHNSON C. SMITH (91) — Minor 27, Goodloe, Harper 11, Bennett 5, Ross 14, Lewis 21, Adair 3, Milenkovic 4, Roberson 3, Ominu 3.

Livingstone      39   45 — 84

J.C. Smith        41    50 — 91