[Raleigh, NC] - Shaw fans went home happy Thursday night after the 23rd-ranked Bears defeated Lincoln (PA) 67-55 for their tenth straight win, but for Head Coach Cleo Hill, Jr., the mood was less than bright.

"I don't want to take anything away from my guys.  We won and that is what matters," Hill said.  "The players feel we're marching on, but that's not good enough for where we're trying to go."

The Bears defense - which had allowed 73 points or more the last three games - held the Lions to only 55 points on 35.8 percent shooting.  Lincoln outrebounded the Bears, though, including 13 offensive rebounds, giving them 11 second chance points.

Lincoln took away Shaw's transition game, holding the Bears to only six points off the fast break.  That forced the normally offensive high-flying Bears into a half court game, where they have struggled this season.

"We aren't executing," said Hill.  "We aren't doing the little things well.  We're not setting screens or coming off screens the way we should.  We're finding ways to get points, but they aren't the shots we want."

Hill did say that one key statistic fell in line with their expectations.  "We feel that if we get around 15 assists, we'll win by anywhere from eight to 12 points.  We had 16 assists tonight and we won by 12."

The Bears jumped to an early lead before Lincoln even got on the scoreboard.  Junius Chaney hit a pair of free throws to give Shaw an 8-0 lead with five minutes gone in the game.  The Bears would build that lead to ten on a dunk from Derrick Hunter with 6:11 left in the half.

With Shaw up 24-14, the Lions then scored seven straight, cutting the lead to only three.  They would trim it another point with 2:01 left in the half. 

Then Tony Smith took over. 

With 1:41 left in the half, Smith hit a three.  After Chaney hit another pair of free throws, Smith stole the inbounds pass and fed the ball to Malik Alvin, who hit the layup.  Smith then stole the ensuing inbounds pass and hit a layup of his own - helping to turn a two-point lead to an 11-point advantage in less than a minute.

Denzel Mooney would hit a three for the Lions to cut the Shaw lead to eight going into the half.

For most of the second half, the Bears held a lead hovering near - but never over - the ten-point mark.  With 6:29 left in the game, Mohammed Adbur-Rahim hit a layup off a pass from Keith Mitchell to give the Bears a 57-47 lead.

Four minutes later, Justin Jackson hit a three for the Lions ending a scoring run that cut the Shaw lead to only five, but that would be the last points Lincoln scored.  Chaney added four more free throws, and Alvin another three  to give the Bears the 67-55 win.

The win is the tenth straight for the Bears and improves their record to 14-2 on the season, 6-0 in the conference.  Lincoln drops to 7-10 on the season, 2-4 in the CIAA.

Alvin had 22 points to lead the Bears, hitting eight of 11 from the field.  Chaney had 15 points - 11 of those on 11 for 11 shooting from the free throw line.  Karron Johnson added another 13 and led the team in assists with four.  Tony Smith was the leading rebounder for the Bears with nine.

Mooney led all scorers with 26.  Derrick Washington added another 11 for the Lions.  Kenny Sharpe had five rebounds to lead Lincoln, but all but one player collected at least one board.  Sharpe also led his team in assists with three. 

On Saturday, the Bears begin CIAA divisional action when they host cross-town rival Saint Augustine's at 4:00 p.m. in the second game of a doubleheader.  Doors will open at 1:00 p.m. for the contests.  The game is at C.C. Spaulding Gymnasium on the Shaw campus.