FAYETTEVILLE, N.C.  – The Shaw University football team rallied from 23 points down in the fourth quarter, but came up short in a 36-29 loss to Fayetteville State University (3-3, 3-0 CIAA) on Saturday afternoon at Luther "Nick" Jeralds Stadium.

Shaw (0-6, 0-3 CIAA) accounted for 285 total offense, including 215 through the air and 70 on the ground, while FSU tallied 376 total offense (215 passing and 114 rushing).

FSU took advantage of their 55 yard punt when the Bears mishandled the ball for a touchback in the Broncos end zone that gave Fayetteville State an early 2-0 lead in the first quarter.

The Bears would get on the scoreboard after Terrence Shambry, II (Chesapeake, VA) found Sherman Ragland (Durham, NC) in the end zone off an eight yard pass with 11:48 left in the second quarter.

The momentum shifted when Andre Montgomery scored on a 12 yard run at the 9:38 mark for FSU that would lead to the Broncos scoring two more touchdowns in the quarter as Derek Bryant connected with Tavon Gatlin at the 1:56 mark before finding receiver Chris Hubert to give FSU a 23-7 advantage heading into intermission.

Just when FSU looked as if they would shut the door on the Bears in the third quarter after scoring a touchdown to extend their lead to 23 points (30-7), Shambry, II completed a 27 yard pass to Danny Webster, Jr. (New Bern, NC) for a Bears touchdown to cut the deficit to 16 with 9:53 remaining in the quarter.

Two possessions later, the Broncos scored again after Avery Redden crossed the goal line to put FSU back up 22 points.

Despite the deficit going into the fourth quarter, the Bears showed fight as they continued to battle when Shambry, II threw for 28 yards to wide receiver Trevante Long (Greenbelt, MD) for a touchdown at the 9:17 mark. Shaw picked up their defensive intensity on the next possession when they recovered the ball in the Broncos end zone for an extra two points.

The Bears final score of the game came on a 32 yard pass from Shambry, II to Artravius James (College Park, GA), however, SU's attempt for a two-point conversion was intercepted as the clock showed 3:36 remaining in the game.

SU was unable to get another chance on the offensive side of the ball as FSU ran time off the clock to clinch the 36-29 win.

Offensively for Shaw, Marquise Grizzle (Camden, NC) rushed for 49 yards on 10 carries, while Shambry, II rushed nine times for 16 yards.

Shambry, II was 19-for-32 in pass completions with no interceptions for 215 yards and four touchdowns, while Webster, Jr. led the receivers with 85 yards off four catches and one touchdown.

Dwight Campbell (Durham, NC) and Dominque Hannibal (Chesapeake, VA) led the effort defensively for the Bears, with a nine tackles each. Hannibal also added a sack and four tackles for a loss of 12 yards.

The Bears will return to action with a 1 p.m. game against Livingstone on Oct. 17th at Durham County Memorial Stadium in Durham, NC.

For the most up-to-date information on Shaw football and its 11 varsity sport teams, visit shawbears.com.