bears flustered by falcons
Shaw Victimized in Cross-Town Clash By
Twenty-three
January 19, 2007 – Raleigh, NC – The Shaw University Bears arrived at Holliday Gymnasium in Broughton High School to settle an athletic argument with the #23 Saint Augustine’s College Falcons. The Bears would draw the short end of the stick in the cross-town clash as they were routed by their rivals, 86 – 63.
At the start of the first half, the Bears took possession of their first lead, 2 – 0, with a jumper by #00 Cori Gaither (Forward / 6 – 5 / Senior / Jacksonville, FL). However, the Falcons flapped their wings to take a 9 – 4 lead. However, the Bears battled back to birth the first tie, 9 – 9, after a long distance three-pointer by #34 John “Kash” Kornegay (Guard / 5 – 10 / Senior / Detroit, MI). SAC sunk two straight shots but, #20 Robert “And One” Espinosa (Forward / 6 – 7 / Senior / Plainfield, NJ) rained in a long range two-pointer to knot the competition at 13 – 13. Nevertheless, the Bears soon were positioned at the undesired side of a double digit deficit as the Falcons took flight with another 9 – 1 scoring spurt. Espinosa cut the lead to six, 24 – 16 SAC, after he sliced through the SAC defense and finished with the gym gyrating jam! Unfortunately the Falcons would float back up by 12 points, 28 – 16, after a jumper and four made free throws. With a little less than five minutes remaining, one of two attempted free throws brought the Bears within ten, 29 – 19. SAC would hold their largest lead of 15 points after two more made free throws and a layup by #5 Will Gill. The Bears cut the lead to eleven but a twelve footer and three-pointer by Gill gifted the Falcons with a 42 – 28 lead at the intermission.
In the second half, Shaw looked to minimize their turnovers especially since the Falcons scored 19 points off of the Bears’ 16 first half turnovers. As for the Falcons, their feathers were still singed with smoke as they picked up from their 50% (14 of 28) field goal percentage in the first half. However, Head Coach Robert Brickey made decisive substitutions as many of the Bears has to play “restricted” as they were in early foul trouble. One of the most immediate impacts was #10 Tyrone Bolden as the two-sport athlete made an around the world lay-up and aggressively took possession of an offensive rebound prior to depositing an in the paint putback. Yet at the 8:30 mark, the Bears trailed 67 – 53. Regrettably, things would get worse before they got better for the Bears. With a little less than three minutes left in the contest, a bucket by SAC’s #33 Robert Shuler propelled the Falcons with a more than sizable point margin advantage, 82 – 61. Shaw attempted on various occasions to extinguish SAC’s camp fire scoring to possibly produce a comeback, but Falcons proved to be too far out of reach.
The Bears has three players to finish in double figures. Leading the Bears in scoring was #1 Will Graham with 17 points (three rebounds / one assist / one steal). Providing additional scoring was #34 John Kornegay with 11 points (four rebounds / one assist) and #00 Cori Gaither with 10 points (five rebounds / three steals). Leading Shaw in rebounding was #30 Damola Obadina (Forward / 6 – 5 / Senior / Minneapolis, MN) and Gaither with five rebounds each.
The Shaw University Bears will practice with mental and physical preparation as they host three conference competitions in a span of seven days. Of which, the first will be on Tuesday, January 22nd against the Tigers of Saint Paul’s College. The East versus West dual is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. in C. C. Spaulding Gymnasium.
