Bears Athletics - Bear Comeback Falls Short, Shaw Loses to BSU in OT

Shaw Comeback Falls Short – Bears Lose to Bowie State 60-58 in OT

(Raleigh, NC) – For the second straight game, Shaw let their opponent take a large early lead then rallied, but Monday night’s comeback fell just short as the Bears lost to Bowie State 60-58 in overtime.

Shaw (6-5, 4-1 CIAA) took an early 3-2 lead, but did not see their next lead until three minutes had elapsed in overtime, when Raheem Smith hit a layup to give Shaw a 57-55 advantage. Bowie State (5-3, 5-1 CIAA) tied the game 15 seconds later with a Duke Crews layup, and later iced the win at the free throw line.

Michael Smith (right) led the Bears with 15 points, while Raheem Smith had 13 on the night in limited playing time due to foul trouble.

The game may have ended as a classic, but no one in Spaulding Gymnasium would have predicted the exciting finish after watching the first 20 minutes.

The first half may have been one of the ugliest halves of basketball in memory – at least for the Bears. They hit only four of 20 shots from the field, including going 0-7 from the three point line. While their foul shooting (at 61.5 percent) wasn’t outstanding, their eight made free throws did keep them in the game.

Raheem Smith, who had been averaging 36 minutes per game of playing time spent most of the first half on the bench with foul trouble – seeing only seven minutes of action and garnering a single point.

Smith hit a free throw early for the Bears, but the first field goal in the game did not come until four minutes into the game when State’s Crews slammed home a dunk. It took another minute for the next score – a Shaw layup by Rodney Callwood.

Most telling for the Bears in that opening five minute stretch was that Callwood’s shot was only the third shot Shaw attempted. The Bears turned the ball over three times and were outrebounded 7-4 during that stretch.

Eric Pitts hit a layup for the Bears to make the score 14-9 in Bowie State’s favor with 9:31 left in the half. That would be the last field goal Shaw made on the half – missing all ten shots they attempted to close the period.

Shaw slowly chipped away at the lead through a pressing defense that forced 13 Bulldog turnovers in the second half, and improved shooting (13 for 26 – 50 percent), while holding the Bulldogs to only 35 percent from the field.

With 9:32 left in regulation, Raheem Smith hit a three-pointer to cut the Bowie State lead to two, 37-35. The Bulldogs pulled back to a seven-point advantage, largely on a bucket and two free throws from Travis Hyman.

Again the Bears whittled down the lead, narrowing it to one on a Michael Smith layup with 2:46 left in the game. Corey Stevens countered for the Bulldogs with a layup. Raheem Smith hit a free throw, and Michael Smith a layup to tie the game with 54 seconds on the clock.

Armond Hill for Bowie State and Darryl Johnson for Shaw each hit two from the stripe to send the game into overtime.

After Delmar Carey hit a jumper in the lane for the Bulldogs in overtime, Adrian Bascom hit a layup to tie the score at 55. Raheem Smith and Crews exchanged layups to knot the score at 57.

Eric Pitts hit one of two free throws for Shaw, giving them the single point lead, but Dominic Milburn made both of his shots at the other end of the court, giving Bowie a one-point advantage with ten seconds left in the game.

Raheem Smith missed a three, then Travis Hyman made one of two for the Bulldogs before Michael Smith saw his running layup fall just short as the buzzer sounded.

While Raheem Smith played only seven minutes in the first half, he played every minute in the second half and overtime. In addition to his 13 points, he led the Bears with three assists. Bascom led Shaw with seven rebounds.

Hill and Hyman had 13 points apiece for the Bulldogs. Crews and Carey led BSU with eight rebounds each.

The Bears return to action Saturday when they travel to Virginia State for a 7:30 matchup. They return home on Saturday, January 16 to face off against Elizabeth City State at 7:30 p.m. in C. C. Spaulding Gymnasium.

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January 4, 2010