Bears Athletics- Bears Defeat VSU on Calwood's Double-Double

Rodney Calwood Has Double-Double to Lead Bears Over VSU 80-62

(Raleigh, NC) – Rodney Calwood led a second-half offensive drive that pulled the Bears out of a 40-all tie and spurred them to an 80-62 win over Virginia State at Spaulding Gymnasium. On the night, Calwood had 23 points, 11 rebounds and battled Trojan big man Jacobe Simpson under the boards all evening, holding him to only six rebounds.

“I think he’s the best player in the conference,” Shaw Head Coach Cleo Hill, Jr. said of Calwood. “He can run the court, rebound, shoot, and he’s learned to play well with both hands. It’s just packaged in a 6-5 frame.”

On the evening, Hill said he was pleased with both the outcome and the stats. “There isn’t a lot to find fault with on this stats sheet,” Hill said. “Five players in double figures, out rebounded them by nearly 20 (51-34), and we nearly held them to our goal of 60 points.”

Both Shaw (2-0, 2-0 CIAA) and VSU (0-4, 0-3 CIAA) got off to fast starts with few errors.

Until the second half, the two teams were evenly matched, and playing high quality basketball. The game was tied five times, and the lead changed hands eight. Neither team hit double figures in turnovers, and both teams shot well (50 percent for VSU and 38.9 percent for Shaw).

When the buzzer ended the first half, the teams were tied at 34 and there was no sense that either had the upper hand.

The second half started similarly, with both teams amassing an additional six points to bring it to a 40-40 tie with 17:35 left in the game.

Fifteen seconds later, Glenn Batemon threw down a slam dunk that rocked the building, and started a 10-0 Shaw run that featured four points from Calwood.

After that, the Trojans never got closer than seven points, while the Bears extended the lead to 23 points with just under four minutes to go.

“Their press gives us some opportunities to score,” said Hill of the Trojans, “But in the second half they seemed to get tired. Their traps weren’t quite as hard and we were able to take advantage of that.”

In the second half, the Bears shot 47.1 percent and committed only one turnover. The Bears also outrebounded the Trojans by ten during the period.

Calwood led the Bears in both scoring, with 23, and in rebounds, with 11. Other Shaw scorers in double figures were Raheem Smith (13), Dwight Bell (11), Eric Pitts and Michael Smith, both with ten. Raheem Smith had nine rebounds for the Bears.

The Trojans’ Simpson did manage 23 points on the game despite Calwood’s play under the basket, but was held to six rebounds, which led VSU. Trey Mines had 11 points for VSU.

The Bears’ next game is Saturday, November 28 at 4:00 p.m. when they host Saint Paul’s. NOTE: This game was originally listed on the schedule as being played at Saint Paul’s, but has been moved to C. C. Spaulding Gymnasium.