RICHMOND, Va. -  The Shaw University men's basketball team got a star turn from freshman guard Larry Richardson as he tossed in 29 points on the Bears way to downing  Virginia Union 78-68 at Barco-Stevens Hall on the VUU campus Thursday night.

The win is the fourth straight for the Bears -- all in CIAA action.  They now stand at 6-8 on the season.  Virginia Union falls to 3-11 overall, 2-3 in the conference.

Richardson hit nine of 17 shots, including five of ten from beyond the arc, and sank all six free throws he attempted. 

The Bears won despite cold shooting -- hitting only 39.7 percent of their shots, versus 53.2 percent for Virginia Union, but Shaw outrebounded the Panthers 50-25, including 23 offensive rebounds that allowed them to launch 16 more shots than VUU.  They also held Union to only four offensive rebounds on the night.

Richardson put his stamp on the game early, hitting eight of the Bears' first 12 points and 15 of their first 21.  With 10:51 left in the first half, Shaw had built a 23-11 lead.

Union got a break when Richardson did, and they were able to trim four points off the lead.  With 4:33 left in the first half, Shaw held a 31-23 lead.

The Panthers then ran off an 8-2 run, cutting the Shaw lead to only two and forcing the Bears to call a time out with 2:30  left in the first and only holding a 33-31 lead.

Jeffrey LeGree then hit a pair of free throws with 2:05 left to end the run and push the Shaw lead back to four at 35-31.

The Bears closed out the half on a 9-1 run, giving them a 42-32 lead at the break. 

The second half started slowly.  When VUU took a timeout two and a half minutes into the half, the scoreboard had changed little with only a Union bucket having been scored.  Shaw still led, 42-34.

Virginia Union then took advantage of two "and ones" to trim the Shaw lead to 43-40. 

With 15:14 left, Avery Jirmnson stole the Shaw inbound pass and converted a layup to tie the score at 43, adding to an 11-1 Virginia Union run that opened the second half.

LeGree then dribbled the length of the court and put up a soft layup that gave Shaw back the lead seconds later, 45-43.

The bucket was the start of what would become an 14-3 run that gave the Bears a 57-46 lead when Richardson hit yet another three with just over nine minutes left in the contest.

With 8:59 left, Jirmnson hit a free throw to put a stop to the run and trim the Shaw lead to ten, 57-47. 

Shaw then slowed down the game, working the clock each possession.  The Shaw lead hovered around ten for the seven minutes.  With 1:50 left in the game, Ken Pankey sank a pair of free throws to cut the Shaw lead to single digits, 72-63.

With 58 seconds left, Pankey hit a three to trim Shaw's lead to 74-66, but then the Panthers started to foul the Bears.  LeGree missed two free throws, and the Panthers took advantage, hitting a bucket to cut the Shaw lead to only six with 28.7 seconds left.

Aquil Younger was then fouled and hit both to extend the lead back to eight.  After a pair of missed free throws by the Panthers, Younger was again fouled and again hit two to put the game out of reach and set the final score at 78-68.

Richardson finished with 29 points, six rebounds and two assists.  LeGree had 14 and Koron Reed had 10.  Andre Paulk and Derrick Hunter led the Bears with eight rebounds each, while Younger had seven assists to pace the Bears.

Jirmnson finished with 20 points for the Panthers with Pankey adding 13 and Omar Briggs and Gerard Dean-McBride each with ten.  Briggs had nine rebounds and Jirmnson and Michael Wynn nine assists each to lead Virginia Union.

Tonight's game was the first of four straight road games.  The Bears now travel up I-95 for a Saturday clash with Bowie State at 2:00 p.m.  Shaw returns home Wednesday, January 22 to host division rival Winston-Salem State at 8:00 p.m. at C.C. Spaulding Gymnasium on the Shaw campus.