Bears Athletics

Simms’ Last Second Three Leads Shaw to 79-78 OT Win Over Lincoln

(Lincoln, PA) – With one second left on the clock in overtime, Shaw’s Brandon Simms (right) launched a three from the right corner, hitting it to give the Bears a 79-78 victory.

Simms’ performance was part of a balanced Shaw attack that saw all 12 Bears who played score, with three of them in double digits. Rodney Callwood led the way for the Bears with 22. Darryl Johnson had 17 and Michael Smith 14 for Shaw (10-6, 7-2 in the CIAA). The win is the Bears’ third in a row.

The win came despite a bevy of Lincoln threes that kept the Lions in the game, and brought them back from a nine-point deficit with 4:44 left in the second. On the night, the Lions (2-14) were ten for 25 from long range. Simms’ trey was only the third for the Bears on the night.

With ten seconds left, Darren Clarke scored his seventh point in OT with a layup. He was fouled and sank the free throw to give the Lions a 78-76 lead.

After a time out from each team, Michael Smith brought the ball up court for the Bears, faked a drive to the hoop and tossed the ball to Simms, who knocked down the three with one second showing on the clock. The Lions were not able to get a shot off in the remaining second.

The Lions took the early lead in the first, in large part on their three-point shooting. Dante Blanton-Hol had one three, and Damian Hyman had two with just over seven minutes gone in the first to give the Lions a 13-7 lead.

The Bears began a comeback immediately, and with 6:46 left in the half, Rodney Callwood’s layup gave Shaw a 19-18 lead. A Simms three and another Callwood layup gave the Bears a six-point lead. They went to the locker room with a 34-28 lead.

Poor shooting hurt the Bears in the second half. While they built a nine-point lead, they missed shots at critical times coming down the stretch, and shot only 34.5 percent on the half. In the closing 4:44 of regulation, the Bears missed five of six from the field. In that same time, the Lions made four of their seven shots, including two threes.

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For the Lions, most of the overtime was spent at the foul line, where they went seven for ten. The period was a succession of ties and one-bucket leads throughout. Callwood and Johnson each had four points, to set up Simms’ heroics.

Johnson led the Bears with ten rebounds, while Smith and Simms had six assists apiece. The Lions also had three players in double figures: Clark with 21, Hyman with 18 (15 off of threes), and Eugene Smith with 14. Smith led the Lions with eight rebounds, while Clark had six assists.

The Bears continue their road trip in Bowie, MD, Monday at 7:30. They return home Saturday, January 30, 2010 against Fayetteville State at 7:30 in C. C. Spaulding Gymnasium.