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WSSU-Livingstone makes case for top HBCU, NC rivalry

Winston-Salem State and Livingstone College are set to meet in the C.E. Gaines Center on Saturday, Feb. 3. The two schools are separated by roughly about a 40-minute drive, and has developed into one of the most competitive rivalries in the CIAA, if not all of HBCU basketball and North Carolina.

Here are the numbers for the series dating back to 2006.

  • Total games played: 29
  • Wins for WSSU: 15
  • Wins for Livingstone: 14
  • Longest win streak for WSSU: 5 games (from February 23, 2019, to January 29, 2022)
  • Longest losing streak for Livingstone: 4 games (from February 13, 2012, to February 1, 2014)
  • Home record for WSSU: 6-7
  • Away record for WSSU: 8-5
  • Conference record: 12-11
  • Average points scored by WSSU: 77.62
Livingstone College, WSSU

The programs are both led by coaches who have multiple CIAA championships. James Stinson has been at the helm for 20 years at Livingstone College, leading it to its only two titles in school history in 2014 and 2015. Cleo Hill Jr. has led Winston-Salem State to CIAA titles in 2020 and 2023 in addition to the title he won at Shaw in 2011. 

The last 10 matchups between these teams from February 24, 2018, to February 18, 2023, favored WSSU, with a record of 7 wins and 3 losses. WSSU is 7-2 against Livingstone since Hill took over the program prior to the 2018-2019 season. Only one of those games were decided by more than 10 points, with seven of those games coming down to six points or less.

Beyond the competitiveness of the basketball, both teams are guaranteed to have to turn fans away from their small gyms. The last game between the two teams was moved to Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Colisieum at Wake Forest where 4,500 fans showed up to watch the two teams battle.

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