February 13, 2007
BEARS HAD FOUR PLAYERS IN DOUBLE FIGURES
Shaw fell 77-86 to Virginia Union
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA – The Bears' record falls to 3-21 overall, 1-16 in the CIAA and 1-8 in the East after a hard felt loss to Virginia Union University who improved to 16-4 overall, 13-4 in the CIAA and 6-1 in the Eastern Division. The Bears were led by Damola Obadina (6’5, JR, Forward, Minneapolis, MN) who had 16 points and five rebounds.
The Bears shot well in the first hitting 10-of-37 (43.6 percent) from the field while the Panthers knocked down 16-of-29 (55.2 percent) from the floor. The Bears shot with perfection from the charity stripe converting 10-of-10 in the first half. VUU turned the ball over only eight times in the first half which Shaw turned into nine points. The Panther were up by 18 points on the Bears with 9:10 remaining in the first when Shaw went 23 to nine run to go into the half trailing by only four points with the score 35-39 in favor of Virginia Union.
Shaw’s field goal shooting only got better in the second half, jumping up to 51.7 percent by hitting 15-of-29 from the floor, which included eight-of-nine from the free throw line. Virginia Union’s shooting would not be as great as the first half but it proved to be enough to get past the Bears. They shot 43.8 percent hitting 14-of-32 shots and went 15-of-22 from the charity stripe.
Robert Espinosa (6’7, JR, Forward, Plainfield, NJ) would record yet another double-double with 13 points and game high 12 rebounds for the Bears. Also scoring in double figures for Shaw was Obadina with team high 16 points, Melvin Smith (6’3, SR, Guard, Roanoke, VA) dropped 13 points and John Kornegay (5’11, SO, Guard, Detroit, MI) added 10 points for the Bears.
Standing out for the Panthers was Brandon Byerson who scored game high 26 points and Chris Greene and LaKeith Blanks scored 16 and 17 points respectively.
The Bears will return to action on Saturday, February 17th when they host the Golden Bulls of Johnson C. Smith University in a CIAA Western Divisional match-up. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in C.C. Spaulding Gymnasium. For additional information, please contact the Shaw University Office of Sports Information at mwilliams@shawu.edu.
