Box Score RALEIGH, N.C. – The Shaw University men's basketball dropped a hard-fought 76-74 contest at home to Virginia Union University in a non-conference matchup Saturday night inside Spaulding Gymnasium.
Shaw falls to 0-3 on young season, while Virginia Union improves to 2-2 on the year.
The opening half featured big runs by both teams. The Bears was the hot team to start, opening up a 6-0 lead. VUU responded to cut the deficit to six again at the 16:27 mark (12-6). The game became tied three times before a layup by Larry Richardson, II (Garner, NC) gave the Bears a two-point lead at the 1:01 mark. SU ended up with a 36-34 lead at halftime.
The second half was extremely tight from start to finish. The Bears led 55-49 with 11:12 remaining – that would be the largest lead for Shaw during the half. The game was tied at 60-60 with 6:40 left in the game when the Bears took the lead again before both teams continued to exchange baskets.
Just when it appeared that the Bears were in control of the game, a jumper by Ray Anderson gave VUU momentum and a one-point lead. SU would only score once in the final possession of the game, giving the Panthers the win.
Shaw finished the game shooting 44.6 percent from the floor (25-56), while VUU ended up at 49.2 percent (31-63). Both teams were fairly even from the 3-point range as SU was 3-of-16 and VUU at 4-of-16. The Bears went 21-of-41 from the foul line (84 percent), compared to the Panthers at 10-of-17 (58.8 percent).
Three Bears finished in double figures, led by David Madol (Manchester, NH) with 24 points, including 10-of-10 from the foul line to lead all players. Joell Hopkins, Jr. (Raleigh, NC) added 18 points and a team-high nine rebounds, while John Savoy (Temple Hills, MD) contributed 13 points.
The Bears will look to recover when they travel to Bluefield, WV on Monday, Nov. 23rd to face Bluefield State College in a non-conference contest. Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m.
For the most up-to-date information on Shaw men's basketball and its 11 varsity sport teams, visit shawbears.com.
