Men Fall to 0-2 on Season

The Shaw men's basketball team fought hard in the Salisbury Roundball Classic on the campus of Catawba College this weekend, but lost twice to fall to 0-2 on the season.

In the season opener of the 2003-04 season, Shaw faced Augusta State and fell 62-60.  Trailing 37-30 at halftime the Shaw cagers played inspired ball in the second half, as they went on a 10-2 run to take a 40-39 lead on a lay-up by Damon Harrison with 14:31 remaining in the second half.  The Bears extended their lead to 51-44 on a jumper by Ricky Williams (nine points) with 10:17 remaining.  But the Jaguars came back and pulled to within one on two free throws by Patrick Curran with 1:13 remaining.  A Jason Mills lay-up gave the Jaguars the lead with 35 seconds remaining.  Chas Bailey's (15 points) jumper from the left baseline for the lead with under five seconds remaining rimmed out.  Darius Acuff led the Bears with 16 points.  Ron Colbert had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Yesterday the Bears came out more fired up against the host Indians but fell 97-68.  The Bears jumped out to a 29-20 lead on an Acuff lay-up with  6:23 remaining in the first half.  Acuff, who finished the game with 31 points, controlled the tempo for the Bears, scoring 15 of Shaw's first 29 points.  But the Indians came back and went on a 17-4 run as  Shaw began to turn the ball over and could not hit any of its shots.  Catawba led 37-33 at halftime.  Unlike the performance against the Jaguars, the Bears could not hit a shots in the second half.  Catawba went on a 13-4 run to take command of the game as Duke Phipps' (14 points) steal and lay-up gave Catawba a 50-37 lead with 16:09 remaining in the game.  Williams finished with 15 points and Colbert had his second-straight game scoring in double figures with 10 points.

Shaw next game will be its home opener against Morehouse on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in Spaulding Gymnasium.