FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. -  The Shaw University men's basketball team jumped to an early lead, but could not contend with a hot shooting Fayetteville State team, losing 88-67 in a game played Wednesday night at FSU's Capel Arena.

The loss drops Shaw to 7-14 overall, 5-6 in the conference and 1-4 in the CIAA's Southern Division.  FSU improves to 16-6 overall, 8-3 in the conference and 4-1 in the division.

The Broncos hit 58.3 percent of their field goals all evening, but put Shaw away on 67.9 percent shooting in the first half.  In comparison, Shaw shot 38.3 percent and 37 percent in the first half.

Shaw took 12 more shots that the Broncos from the field, but hit five fewer.  They even suffered from the free throw line, hitting only 54.8 percent of their 31 attempts.  In comparison, Fayetteville State hit two thirds of their 36 attempts from the line in a foul-filled evening.

Neither team looked strong early, as it took nearly two full minutes for Shaw to score the opening four points.    Fayetteville State then took three minutes to score the next ten, claiming a 10-4 lead when Torian Showers hit a three with 15:02 left in the first.

Larry Richardson sank a free throw to stop the Shaw drought, but FSU outscored the Bears 12-6 in the next four minutes, increasing their lead to 11 points when Juwan Addison hit a fastbreak layup with 11:01 left in the half.

A minute later, Koron Reed hit a layup to trim the FSU lead, and Richardson cut it even further with a jumper.

FSU responded with a 10-2 run, giving them a 32-17 lead with 7:10 left in the half.  They would extend the lead to 23 by the end of the first half, going into the locker room with a 50-27 lead.

In the second half, Shaw matched FSU bucket-for-bucket for most of the half, but could not make a run to cut into the 20-plus point lead. 

The Broncos eventually built a 29-point lead, but Shaw answered, cutting it to 21 with 2:42 left when Ali Baba Odd hit a layup on the fast break to trim the FSU lead to 83-62.  Each team would score five more points by the end of the contest, giving Fayetteville State the 88-67 win.

Andre Paulk led the Bears with 13 points, while Richardson finished with 11.  Derrick Hunter and Dominic Bass had four rebounds and Carlton Johnson five assists to lead Shaw.

Fayetteville State had four players in double figures:  Tyrrel Tate with 17, Marquette Hill with 14, Louis Craft with 12 and Anthony Shelton with 11.  Tate had ten rebounds and Joshua Dawson nine assists to pace the Broncos.

The Bears return home on Saturday when they host Livingstone at 4:00 p.m. at C.C. Spaulding Gymnasium.