bears victimized by vuu
Shaw’s Defeat by Twenty-Five
Stretches Losing Streak to Five
February 12, 2008 – Raleigh, NC – The Shaw University Bears laced up their leather athletic footwear to take on the No. 4 Ranked (South Atlantic Region) Virginia Union University Panthers. The Bears were not able to overcome the Panther’s plump point margin of 34 points early in the second half. Shaw was stunned by the Panthers, 81 – 56. The Bears record now stands at 4 – 19 Overall, 1 – 14 CIAA, and 1 – 5 Division.
The first half of play did not start off on the right paw for the Bears. Head Coach Robert Brickey signaled to take his first timeout at the 17:43 mark after VUU produced three unanswered scores for a 6 – 0 lead. Shortly thereafter, Shaw’s #20 Robert “And One” Espinosa (Forward / 6 – 7 / 195 / Plainfield, NJ) released a short jumper that danced around the rim and in. Shaw got its second made basket credited to #10 Tyrone Bolden (Guard / 5 – 11 / 195 / Junior / Cleveland, OH) after he grabbed an offensive rebound and tossed in the put back. Nevertheless, the Panthers paraded to lead 13 – 4. The home team was severely paralyzed with their below temperature 29.2% (seven of 24) field goal percentage and even more by their 14 turnovers; of which VUU converted in 20 points. Just under the seven minutes mark, the Panthers hang glided over the home team with a 29 – 8 lead. The Bears belly flopped into double digits with an offensive rebound and pump fake, then put-back by Espinosa. Yet, with sixty seconds remaining, the Bears trailed by 29 points. VUU led 41 – 18 at the intermission.
It was quite obvious Shaw sought to reconstruct their defense and offensive schemes in the second half. Unfortunately, the Panthers picked up where they left off as they increased their cushion with an 11 – 0 scoring run. Despite at the 17:06 mark Shaw stood in the shadows of VUU by 34 points, 52 – 18 VUU, the Bears remained competitive. Shaw scored on three consecutive drives; tallying a three-pointer each from #34 John “Kash” Kornegay (Guard / 5 – 10 / 180 / Senior / Detroit, MI), #3 Jonathan Mudd (Guard / 6 – 1 /170 / Sophomore / Miami, FL), and then one from #21 Brandon “Game Time” Greene (Forward / 6 – 6 / 210 / Senior / Slidell, LA). The Eastern Division’s top team still fired away from to and fro, torching the twine. The Panthers’ lead proved to be too far great to complete a comeback.
Leading the Bears in scoring for the Bears was #30 Damola Obadina (Forward / 6 – 5 / 240 / Senior / Minneapolis, MN) with nine points (a team high eight rebounds). Providing additional scoring was #21 Brandon Greene with eight points (two rebounds / one assist / one block), #34 John Kornegay with eight points (one steal), and #00 Cori Gaither (Forward / 6 – 5 / 190 / Senior / Jacksonville, FL) with eight points (four rebounds / one steal).
The Shaw University Bears will travel to Fayetteville, NC to take on Fayetteville State University Broncos on Thursday, February 14th. The divisional dual is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m.
