[Valdosta, GA] - Malik Alvin and Junius Chaney had 20 points apiece and keyed a late game surge that pushed Shaw past Columbus State 78-66.  The game was part of the Loop Pizza Grill Classic held on the campus of Valdosta State.

The Bears outplayed the Cougars in just about every statistical category on their way to the convincing win, but were tied late in the game.  Only a 10-point Shaw scoring run with about five minutes left in the game separated the two teams on the scoreboard.

Shaw outrebounded CSU 44-31 and outshot the Cougars 51.8 percent to 35.5 percent.  The Cougars did have one major advantage on the Bears - they committed only 11 turnovers to Shaw's 19 which included critical miscues in the opening minutes of the second half when CSU eliminated a double-digit Shaw lead.

The win improves Shaw's record to 6-2 on the season while Columbus State drops to 5-4. 

The first half started slowly for both teams.  With 11:30 left in the first, the two teams were tied at 10.  In the next four minutes, the two teams matched the scoring, with Shaw building a seven-point, 23-16 lead on a slashing layup by Chaney.

Shaw built the lead to ten by the closing seconds in the first when Latrail McCoy drove to the basket for a layup with three seconds left that set the halftime score at 35-25.

In the opening minutes of the second half, it looked as though Shaw would score a blow out.  Barely four minutes into the half, the Bears had outscored the Cougars 11-5, building a 16 point lead when Chaney sank yet another layup.

Over the next four minutes, the Bears would commit three fouls and two turnovers, allowing CSU to run off 12 straight points, cutting the Shaw lead to 46-42 when Steve Peterson sank a three.

Chaney hit a single free throw to stop the bleeding, but it only delayed the rest of the Cougar comeback.   With 7:51 left in the game, Idell Bell hit Dimitri Davis on a fast break with Davis going in for the easy layup, tying the game, and forcing the Bears to call a timeout.

After Chaney hit another layup, Winford Ivey pulled up on a fast break and sank a three to give CSU a lead.  Twenty seconds later, Devon Mclendon drove to the basket and scored to give the Bears a one-point lead.

After Chaney, Alvin and Curtis Hines combined to propel a 12-2 Shaw scoring outburst, CSU was forced into fouling to stop the clock.  Alvin, their most frequent target, hit six straight free throws to help the Bears rebuild the lead in the final moments.  Hines' fast break dunk with 13 seconds on the clock closed out the scoring and gave Shaw the 78-66 final tally.

In addition to his 20 points, Chaney had 14 rebounds and three blocks in the contest.  Hines reached double-digit scoring himself, with 14 points.  Alvin led the Bears with five assists.

Darius Mcknight had a double-double for the Cougars with 17 points and ten rebounds - leading his team in both categories.  Peterson had 16, Davis 13 and Ivey 12 points.  Ivey led Columbus State with four assists.

Shaw now takes two weeks off for the holiday season.  They return to action on Friday, December 30 when they travel to Savannah, GA, to face Armstrong Atlantic in the 2011 Wingate by Wyndham Holiday Classic at 5:00 p.m.  On December 31, they will face Georgia College at 11 a.m.