SHAW DEALT DOUBLE DIGIT DEFEAT in bowie
Bears Losing Streak Lengthened to Four   

February 9, 2008 – Bowie, MD – The Shaw University Bears accelerated to A.C. Jordan Arena for their nationally televised athletic test against the Bowie State University Bulldogs. Shaw set the nets on fire as they sunk 12 of 23 attempts shots for a fiery 52.2% field goal percentage to take a slim lead late in the first half. Nevertheless, the Bears were given third degree burns after the Bulldogs blasted off for a 64.3% (18 of 28) second half field goal percentage. The CIAA competition concluded with Shaw losing to the Bulldogs, 79 – 59. The Bears record now stands at 4 – 18 Overall, 1 – 13 CIAA, and 1 – 5 Division.

At the start of the first half, the Bears #34 John “Kash” Kornegay (Guar d/ 5 – 10 / 180 / Senior / Detroit, MI) made a jumper as #20 Robert “And One” Espinosa (Forward / 6 – 7 / 195 / Senior / Plainfield, NJ) dialed in his first three-pointer. Although, #00 Cori Gaither (Forward / 6 – 5 / 190 / Senior / Jacksonville, FL) followed with a post production, the Bulldogs bumped ahead of the Bears 14 – 9 with a three-pointer and then a three point play by co-captain senior #45 Jason Ingram. Shaw slid to be within three, 22 – 19 BSU, with a made behind the arc basket by #1 Will “Takeover” Graham (Guard / 5 – 10 / 175 / Junior / Minneapolis, MN) and another conversion from Kornegay. Two plays later, Espinosa drained his second three-pointer. The Bears took their first lead 26 – 25 after #10 Tyrone Bolden (Guard / 5 – 11 / 195 / Junior / Cleveland, OH) dove out of bounds to secure a steal and then flipped a pass to #30 Damola “Mr. Post Man” Obadina (Forward / 6 – 5 / 240 / Senior / Minneapolis, MN) as he dished to Kornegay for the lay-up. The Bulldogs took the first of four thirty second timeouts at the 6:35 mark.  However, the Bulldogs retook the lead, 28 – 26, when senior #43 Orlando Wright made his third three-pointer. BSU went on to lead 36 – 29 with back to back three-pointers by sophomore #30 Christian Jackson.  On the Bears’ next possession, #11 John “Downtown” Douros (Guard / 6 – 2 / 180 / Junior / Raleigh, NC) fired in his first three-pointer. At the intermission, the Bulldogs held a 38 – 32 lead.

 The Bears started the second half with two made free-throws by Espinosa and two buckets by Gaither to trail by one possession, 40 – 38 BSU. Nevertheless, the Bulldogs chewed a loose the noose to burst back out in front after an 11 – 0 scoring run. BSU led 51 – 38 with 14:29 remaining. The Bears kept their composure and competed with consistent offense. Shaw slightly cooled off as they shot a fair 41.7% (10 of 24) from the field in the second half.  Furthermore, the Bears stood tall with perfectly poised defense as Shaw played the first nine minutes without being charged with a foul. As for the Bulldogs, they turned up the dial on their offensive furnace to shoot 64.3% (18 of 28) from the field; including four made of eight attempted three-pointers (50.0%). BSU held their largest lead of 22 points, 67 – 45, at the 10:09 mark. The Bears’ opponent’s point margin advantage proved to be far too great to complete a comeback.

Leading the Bears in scoring was #34 John Kornegay with 11 points (three rebounds / one assist). In addition, Shaw’s #20 Robert Espinosa scored 10 points (five rebounds / one block) Shaw was led in rebounding by #30 Damola Obadina  as he collected seven rebounds (seven points / one assist / three steals).