[Durham, NC] - Shaw battled back in front of a raucous homecoming crowd, but could not overcome JCSU as they fell 36-27. 

The Bears allowed the Golden Bulls to build a 22-6 lead early in the third quarter, but the Bears battled back in the fourth, cutting the lead to only two.  But the Bear defense could not get a key stop and the Golden Bulls answered the charge and eventually scored two touchdowns of their own in the fourth.

"I can't act like I'm happy about it or have anything positive to say about it," said Shaw head coach Darrell Asberry.  "Our main problems are a lack of discipline and an inability to prioritize what's important."

Asberry pointed to his team's history of incurring penalties in the fourth quarters, just as the team is mounting a comeback.  "We make a great defensive stop and then have a stupid penalty.  Or we get a great offensive play, but we jumped offside.  Not to take anything away from Johnson C. Smith, but we keep beating ourselves.  Every time we get into comeback mode, we shoot ourselves in the foot."

Against JCSU, the Bears had five penalties for 50 yards in the four quarter alone.  On the afternoon, they were penalized 12 times for 110 yards.

While some say that this is a rebuilding year for Shaw, with the loss of a number of high-profile, high-performing and all-conference performers from last year's championship squad, Asberry won't use that as an excuse.  "They say we've got young players and that we're rebuilding.  Some of that may be true, but that doesn't excuse what we're doing out there."

JCSU broke on top late in the first quarter, as Keahn Wallace hit Avius Capers for a six-yard strike to give the Golden Bulls a 7-0 lead. 

The two teams exchanged field goals for most of the third quarter, with Shaw's two cutting the JCSU lead to 10-6. 

To close out the half, though, the Golden Bulls put together a 70-yard drive, that ended with a Wallace 10-yard pass to Dedric Anderson giving them a 16-6 lead after the point after attempt failed and with no time left on the clock.

On the opening drive of the second half, Johnson C Smith covered 80 yards in 11 plays culminating in a 16 yard rush by Anderson.  Once again, the PAT failed, so Johnson C. Smith held only a 22-6 lead with 10:21 left in the third. 

Shaw's fortunes began to turn in the latter part of the third quarter.  Darnell Evans picked off a Wallace pass, but the Bears could do nothing with the ball - going only 13 yards before being forced to punt.  But on the punt return, William Trimble fumbled, giving the Bears the ball on the one-yard line.  Three plays later, backup quarterback Homer Causey - who had come into the game on the previous drive - dove into the pile and came out on the other side of the goal line to cut the JCSU lead to 22-13.

The Golden Bulls ended the third and began the fourth on a long drive that eventually would cover 60 yards - 20 of which came on a touchdown strike from Wallace to Matthew Jeffries - to extend the lead to 29-13.

Causey then shouldered the team, completing two passes and rushing for another 28 yards - including an eight yard dash into the end zone.   Causey's pass for the two-point conversion went awry, but a Johnson C. Smith penalty gave the Bears another try and Causey ran in to make the score 29-21.

After forcing the Golden Bulls to go three-and-out, the Bears build another long drive, balanced this time between Causey and James Langford.  Causey threw for 54 yards, including a critical 29-yard strike to James Pettway that moved the ball to the three.  And Langford - who rushed for 17 yards on the drive - including the final three that gave the Bears the touchdown and closed the margin to 29-27 before the PAT try.

Not surprisingly, the Bears went for two points, but Causey's pass into the end zone was intercepted.

On the ensuing drive, the Golden Bulls moved down the field, assisted in part by a Shaw roughing the passer penalty, and ate up 3:21 on the clock as well as finding the end zone to stretch the margin to nine points, 36-27. 

The Bears took over the ball with 3:18 left on the clock, but after Causey hit Tyrone Craig on a 27-yard strike, he was sacked twice, pushing the Bears back 29 yards and forcing Causey out of the game.  The Bears then turned the ball over on downs on a fourth-and-36 situation.

Quinshon Odom, who started at quarterback for the Bears, had 73 yards passing and was intercepted once.  Causey was six for eight for 121 yards, but was sacked four times.  

Antonio Dunn was the leading rusher for the Bears with 41 yards while Langford finished the game with 36 yards rushing, but 154 yards in kick returns.  Combined with his catching yards as well, Langford had 214 all-purpose yards.  Bobby Holliday was the leading receiver with 81 yards on four catches.

Defensively, the Bears were led by Rashard Coleman with ten tackles and Rico Brown with nine.  Evans finished the game with four tackles in addition to his interception.

Wallace finished the game with 179 yards passing on a 20 for 31 performance.  He also threw two interceptions and was sacked twice.  Jeffries was his leading receiver with four catches for 62 yards.  Anderson finished the game with 119 yards rushing, while Wallace added another 48 of his own.

Darius Wallace had eight tackles to lead the Golden Bulls, while Quinton Toomer had eight tackles,  including six solo tackles.

Next week the Bears begin a three-game road trip when they travel to Fayetteville State for a 2:00 p.m. kickoff.