RALEIGH, N.C. -  The Shaw University men's basketball team used a hot shooting touch to power past visiting Chowan 80-57 in a game played Saturday afternoon at C.C. Spaulding Gymnasium.

The Bears hit 57.4 percent of their shots (31 of 54), while holding the Hawks to only a 37.3 percent rate (22 of 59).  Shaw also held a ten-rebound advantage, pulling in 37 boards to only 27 for the Hawks.

The win gives Shaw their first back-to-back wins this season and improves them to 4-8 overall, 2-0 in the CIAA.  Chowan falls to 3-6 and 0-2 in conference play.

Chowan and Shaw battled evenly early, with Shaw leading by four at the half, but the Bears went on a 13-6 run early in the second half, later followed by a 13-3 run that put the contest out of reach.

Both teams played relatively clean ball throughout.  Shaw had only 11 turnovers in the game, compared to ten for Chowan.  Chowan committed 12 personal fouls in the game, and Shaw had only 11.

Shaw built a 5-0 lead to open the game, but Chowan responded with two threes from Ashante Ross and took a 6-5 lead. 

Trailing by one at the 14:49 mark in the first, Shaw scored five straight, including a three from Curtis Hines, to take a 12-8 lead. 

Chowan would tie the score at 16 with 9:03 left, but Shaw scored eight straight, closing with a layup and free throw from DaAaron Ward to give Shaw a 24-16 lead.  Shaw would hold the lead the rest of the game.

With 4:11 left in the first, Kyree Bethel hit a three for the Hawks to trim the Shaw lead to one, but Koron Reed and Ward hit back-to-back buckets to extend the Shaw lead to five with 3:06 left.

Chowan would close to two, but Aquil Younger hit a pair of free throws with less than a second left to give Shaw a 34-30 lead going into the half.

Chowan cut the lead to two less than two minutes into the second, but Shaw responded with a 16-8 run, culminating with a layup for Hines off a pass from Derrick Hunter that made the score 52-42 with 12:20 left in the game.

Still leading by ten with 8:54 left, Shaw would go on another run -- this one 16-4 -- that ended with a three from Hines off a pass from Younger that gave Shaw a 72-49 lead with 4:26 left in the contest. 

Chowan would get no closer than 21, but also didn't let Shaw extend the lead to more than 25 the rest of the way.  A layup from Kortez Smith of Chowan closed out the scoring and gave Shaw the 80-57 win.

Reed led the Bears with a double-double of 14 points and ten rebounds.  Andre Paulk had 13, while Larry Richardson and Hines had 12 apiece.  Younger led the Bears with five assists.

Bethel led the Hawks with 16 points, while Warren Powers had 12 points and ten rebounds for the double-double.  Tiron Brown led the Hawks with four assists.

The Bears return to action Monday night when they host Virginia State at 8:00 p.m. at C.C. Spaulding Gymnasium on the Shaw campus.