February 22, 2007
Bears’ COME UP SHORT ON SENIOR NIGHT
Bears fall 69-72 to Livingstone
RALEIGH, NC – On senior night in C.C. Spaulding Gymnasium the Bears of Shaw University took the court against the Blue Bears of Livingstone College with the hopes of ending the regular season on a winning note, but the Blue Bears had something totally different in mind. What neither team though was the game would come down to the wire and be a dog fight until the final buzzer.
The Bears end the regular season 3-24 overall and 1-19 in the CIAA while the Blue Bears improved to 8-18 overall, and 5-14 in conference play. Three Bears were still able to score three in double-figures as they were led by junior John Kornegay (5’11, Guard, Detroit, MI) who had one of his best games of the season. Kornegay ended his season in the same manner he started by scored team-high 21 points and being perfect from the charity stripe (10-of-10) tonight and 9-of-9 to start the season.
It was all Shaw University in the first half as the led the entire first half up until 0:01 in the half when the Blue Bears’ Michael Duncan hit a 3-pointer as time expired in the first half to tie the score up 31-31. The Bears led by as many as nine point in the first shooting 45.5 percent converting on 10-of-22 shots, while Livingstone only shot 35.9% on 14-of-39 shooting. Shaw was led mostly by Kornegay in the first who scored nine points six of which came from going six-of-six at the free-threw line. The second half would see three lead changes and two ties before the Blue Bears took control with 1:03 remaining in the contest. Shaw would led by as many as 12 points before Livingstone would go on to win by a final score of 72-68.
Having a great night for the Bears was junior Robert Espinosa (6’7, Forward, Plainfield, NJ) who recorded a season-high 10 blocks as well as scoring eight points and stanching six rebounds. Other than Kornegay; Cori Gaither (6’5, JR, Forward, Jacksonville, FL) would score 13 points and Damola Obadina (6’5, JR, Forward, Minneapolis, MN) chipped in 10 points and grabbed five rebounds on the night. The Bears scored 24 points in the paint, 15 points off 11 Livingstone’s turnovers and 29 points off the bench in a dog fight season final.
Standing out for the Blue Bears was Stephen Butler who game-high 24 points, Duncan who added 12 points and freshman Calvin Gunning who dropped 10 points in the Livingstone’s victory.
The Bears of Shaw University will enter the 2007 CIAA Tournament as No. 11 seed and will face the No. 6 seed whom is currently Bowie State University. The final CIAA Bracket will be released on Saturday, February 24th. For additional information, please contact the Shaw University Office of Sports Information at mwilliams@shawu.edu.
