[Savannah, GA] -  Shaw found a long distance shooting touch and easily handled Armstrong Atlantic 88-71 at the Wingate By Wyndham Holiday Classic hosted by Armstrong.  Malik Alvin - who was six of seven from beyond the three-point arc - had 28 points, tying his season high mark.

As a team, the Bears (7-2) hit 14 of 25 three-point attempts for a 56 percent mark.  Overall, the Bears hit slightly less from the floor, hitting 54.2 percent on a 32 for 59 shooting performance.  By contrast, the Pirates (4-7) could manage only four of 16 attempts from long range and hit only 26 of 54 from the floor on the night.

The Bears built the lead early on a fast-tempo game, with breaks often ending with wide open three-point opportunities.  Shaw had 20 points off of fastbreaks.    The Bears outrebounded the Pirates 37-32 and forced 18 turnovers while committing 15.

The Bears broke the game open in the first half.  Trailing 14-10, the Bears ran off 17 straight points to take a 27-14 lead with 11:43 left in the half.  The Bears used the long-range shooting to build the run, hitting six of six from beyond the three-point arc in those opening minutes.

With 2:22 left in the first, Alvin hit a layup to give the Bears a 43-27 lead.  The Pirates responded with a seven-point run to cut the Shaw lead to nine.  Junius Chaney closed out the half with a dunk that gave the Bears the 11-point margin.

Armstrong opened the second half strong, nearly eliminating the Shaw lead by scoring the first eight points of the half. 

With 16:45 left, Armstrong's Keyshore Williams hit a three to cut the Shaw lead to three, 48-45.  The Bears then went on a scoring run, outscoring the Pirates 15-1 over the next four minutes and building a 17-point lead.

With 8:51 left in the game, Curtis Hines hit a pair of free throws to again set the Shaw advantage to 17 points.  The Pirates then outscored the Bears 8-2 to cut the Shaw lead to 11 with 6:21 left on the clock.

Shaw ran off nine straight points in the next two minutes, rebuilding their lead to 20 when Mohammed Abdur-Rahim sank a layup on the fast break to give Shaw the 80-60 lead. 

In addition to Alvin's 28 points, Hines scored 23 and Latrail McCoy added another 14.  Tony Smith pulled in ten rebounds and had seven assists to lead Shaw.

Chris Vanlandingham led AASU with 22 points.  Aric Miller added 14, Mychal Horn 12 and J.C. Wynn had ten.  Williams had ten rebounds and five assists to lead the Pirates.

Shaw will play in the Wingate by Wyndham Holiday Classic tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. when they take on Georgia College.  They return home January 7 when they take on Virginia State in a 4:00 p.m. tip.  That afternoon is "Bring a Kid To The Game" where two children will be admitted free for each paid adult admission.