shaw upset bY saint paul’s in spaulding
Bears Lose Eighth Straight  

January 22, 2008 – Raleigh, NC – The Shaw University Bears opened up their home arena for a basketball battle against the Saint Paul’s College Tigers. Despite accumulating 37 bench points, the Bears lose lead in final 53 seconds as the SPC steals the home court upset, 76 – 71.

SPC snatched possession of the opening tip-off and preceded to a 4 – 0 lead with a made three-pointer and two made free throws. Shaw locked up the contest for the first time at 6 – 6 after #1 Will “Takeover” Graham (Guard / 5 – 10 / Junior / Minneapolis, MN) dropped in his first two points and then #3 Jonathan Mudd (Guard / 6 – 1 / Sophomore / Miami, FL) connected on back to back baskets. Shaw skied to a 10 – 6 lead after #20 Robert “And One” Espinosa (Forward / 6 – 7 / Senior / Plainfield, NJ) tossed in a putback and #34 John “Kash” Kornegay (Guard / 5 – 10 / Senior / Detroit, MI) went two of two from the free throw line. The Tigers tip-toed back to tie the contest at 13 – 13 with a made three-pointer and lay-up. From there, SPC blasted out in front of Shaw with a 9 – 0 scoring run to take a 22 – 13 lead. The home team cut the lead to seven with two more points from Mudd, but SPC developed a double digit lead, 24 – 14, with yet another two pointer and three-pointer. The Bears cut the lead to six after Graham made his second three-pointer, Kornegay made a lay-up, and Espinosa made one of two free throws. At the 2:48 mark, the Bears trailed by only one made basket as the Tigers led 29 – 27. Following two missed free throw attempts by #5 Bruce Royal, the Bears bumped their opponents out of the forefront to take a two point lead, 31 – 29, with post productions by #00 Cori Gaither (Forward / 6 – 5 / Senior / Jacksonville, NC) and Kornegay.  Graham made two of two attempted free throws to lead Shaw at the break with a 33 – 29 lead.

The Bears busted into the second half with an immediate three-pointer by Kornegay. Near the 11:30 mark, the Tigers retook the lead 48 – 47 after a missed free throw on the second attempt was tapped back in by #0 Shahumaad Jones. SPC added a three-pointer but Shaw responded with a three-pointer from #21 Brandon Greene (Forward / 6 – 6 / Senior / Slidell, LA). At 9:55, SPC led 56 – 52 with a three-pointer by #15 Marcus Mitchell. Nevertheless, Shaw’s #30 Damola “Mr. Post Man” Obadina (Forward / 6 – 5 / Senior / Minneapolis, MN) was swarmed by the SPC defense but still proved be virtually to be virtually unstoppable. Obadina danced under, around, and through the Tigers for three consecutive scores. Then, the Bears took at 63 – 61 lead with a fast break lay-up and two pointer by Kornegay. Unfortunately, SPC’s Royal and Mitchell sparked a late surge to elevate the Tigers to a 76 – 71 lead.

Leading the Bears in scoring was #34 John Kornegay with 18 points (three rebounds). Providing additional scoring was #30 Damola Obadina with 14 points (four rebounds / one steal) and #1Will Graham with 12 points (six rebounds / three assists / one steal). Shaw’s top rebounder was #00 Cori Gaither as he collected a total nine rebounds (six pints / three assists / one steal).