Martin Chavious’ three-pointer as time expired hit the front of the rim and Shaw held on to an 81-78 victory over Elizabeth City State in front of a capacity crowd at Spaulding Gymnasium.  For the Bears, it was their third opening CIAA victory under third-year head coach Michael Bernard.  

Shaw (3-9, 1-0, 1-0) shot a sizzling 52 percent in the first half.  Led by Jason Coleman’s nine first half points, Coleman’s free throw with eight minutes, 24 seconds remaining in the first half gave Shaw the lead they would never relinquish at 17-16.  Coleman’s lay-up with two seconds remaining in the half gave Shaw a 34-25 halftime lead.

Shaw continued its hot shooting in the second half, jumping out to a 51-41 lead on a Willie Williams lay-up at the 13:03 mark.  But a mini 7-0 run by the Vikings, capped off by a steal and pull up three-pointer by Maurice Wilkerson at the 12:03 mark, pulled Elizabeth City State to within 51-48.  The Vikings pulled to within 53-52 on a three-pointer by Courtney Castro with 11:20 remaining.

But Shaw, who shot 67 percent from the field in the second half, held strong and got an emphatic dunk and subsequent made free throw to complete a three-point play extending the Bear lead to 62-55 with 9:04 remaining.

Elizabeth City State (6-7, 0-2, 0-1) pulled to within one-point on a number of occasions but could not g over the hump.  Jason Coleman’s runner in the lane with 10.2 seconds remaining pulled Shaw head 79-75.  But Scottie Alston’s three-pointer with 5.2 seconds remaining cut the Shaw lead to 79-78.  Williams made two free throws to put Shaw up 81-78 setting up the three-point attempt by Chavious.

James Rosebud led the Bears with 17 points.  Newcomers Williams and Melvin Smith had 15 and 12 points, respectively.  Coleman finished with 11 points and six assists.  Devin Mooring led four Vikings who scored in double figures with 16 points.

Shaw will play at North Carolina Central on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.