[Raleigh, NC] - Tony Smith had a triple-double and three other Bears scored in double figures as Shaw downed Johnson C. Smith 94-74 in a game played at C.C. Spaulding Gymnasium Monday night.

With the win - Shaw's 17th straight - the Bears improve to 21-2 on the season, 13-0 in the conference and 7-0 in the CIAA's Southern Division.  The win, coupled with Winston-Salem State's loss to Livingstone, means that the Bears have clinched the division title with three games to play.

The fans left the gym buzzing about a variety of things Monday night.  From Karron Johnson's dunks early in the game (one television station had a four-dunk highlight clip posted on their website before the game was over), to the dominating inside game.  Much more subtle had been Smith's achievement - 11 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.

"Tony's very good," said Shaw head coach Cleo Hill, Jr.  "He could play at the highest level."

Between Smith and fellow point guard Malik Alvin, the Bears fired on all cylinders for much of the game, but after building a 12-point lead early, Shaw allowed Johnson C. Smith to trim that lead to only three.

"We stopped executing," Hill said.  "I'm hard on Malik and Tony - when things go right they get all the credit, but when things go bad, they have to answer for it.  When you have two point guards like that, there's no way we should have problems executing.  That's what we talked about at halftime."

Hill said one of the goals the team had going into the game was limiting Johnson C. Smith's long-range attack.  The Bears did just that, holding the Golden Bulls nearly 20 percentage points below their 37 percent season average.  JCSU shot three of 16 from beyond the arc.

All evening, both teams pounded the ball inside, with Shaw scoring 52 points in the paint, compared to 42 for the Golden Bulls. 

"At this level, you're not going to have many teams that can handle both Junius (Chaney) and Karron.   When we're on, Junius and Karron should be getting 15 to 17 each night, Malik another 20 and Tony should have  ten assists."

After Smith had cut the Shaw lead to three, the Bears slowly rebuilt the lead, taking a 41-33 advantage to the locker room at the half.

The Bears opened the second half with a 17-4 run that allowed them to build a 21-point lead when Johnson had another dunk - this one with 16:45 remaining in the game - and gave the Bears the 58-37 advantage.

With 12:28 left in the game, Gabriel McNeal hit a three that gave the Bears a 74-45 lead.  The Golden Bulls would slowly chip away at that lead, but only trimmed the deficit to 20 with an 8-1 run to close out the game, giving the Bears the 94-74 final tally.

Johnson and Alvin had 20 points apiece to lead all scorers.  Chaney added another 17 - all in the second half.  Smith's assist and rebound total topped both squads. 

Philllip Wood led the Golden Bulls with 15 points, while the conference's leading scorer, Trevin Parks, had 14.  Delonta Boyd added another 11.  Wood led JCSU with seven rebounds and Parks had four assists to pace the Golden Bulls.

The Bears return to action Saturday when they travel to Fayetteville to take on Fayetteville State in a 7:30 p.m. tip.  Shaw returns home Monday, February 20 to take on Winston-Salem State in the annual Senior Night game.  Tip for that contest is 8:00 p.m.