Box Score ATLANTA, Ga. – Saturday afternoon at Epps Gymnasium the men's basketball team of Shaw University suffered their ninth loss of the season, falling 74-71 to Clark Atlanta University in a non-conference matchup for the CIAA/SIAC Challenge.
The Bears (2-9) led by as many as eight points in the first half, 25-17 on a 6-0 run with 1:04 left to play.
At halftime Shaw extended their lead to 12-points with a score of 31-19.
Rebounding, transition defense and taking care of the ball were key areas where the Bears fell short in the second half. The Panthers (2-7) held a 16-14 advantage on second chances and 24-21 advantage off of Shaw's turnovers, while outrebounding the Bears 38-33. Damien Enoch collected four steals, while grabbing nine rebounds to lead the team.
The Bears had a lead of 13-points - their largest of the game, when the Panthers began to cut at the deficit after a 9-0 run for CAU with 7:04 left to play. Youngers' two free-throws would stretch the Bears lead back to three-points (56-53) before a turn of events in favor of the Panthers guided them to a one-point lead at the 5:23 mark.
The contest became tied twice with Shaw taking the lead (65-63) with 1:47 left on the clock but Tim Sanders knocked down a 3-pointer to give the Panthers the lead again. From there, the Bears would get within one-point on two occasions but would not be able to tie or regain the lead as CAU made their last two trips at the foul line good for four extra points to take the win.
Despite turning the ball over 23 times, Shaw outscored CAU in bench points 29-24 and points in the paint (30-16).
John Savoy (Temple Hills, MD) scored a team-high 12 points, including 6-of-7 from the field. Also in double figures for the Bears were Aquil Younger (Philadelphia, PA) and Jamar Cooper (Petersburg, VA) who both finished with 10 apiece. Younger dished out a game-high six assists in the setback.
CAU placed three players in double figures – Enoch with 17 points, following Lawrance Freeman with 15 and Joseph Hughes with 12.
The Bears will look to recover on Sunday, Dec. 20th when they take on Fort Valley State University to conclude the CIAA/SIAC Challenge. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. with live stats available on shawbears.com.
For the most up-to-date information Shaw men's basketball and it's 11 varsity sport teams, visit shawbears.com.
