Lincoln, PA - The Shaw University battled until the final buzzer but couldn't overcome a second-half deficit as they saw their three-game winning streak come to an end as they fell to the Lincoln University Lions 68-58 Wednesday night inside Manuel Rivera Gymnasium. The loss was the first division defeat for the Bears this season.

The pace was fast as two early turnovers from the Bears put Shaw in an early 4-0 hole. The Bears responded with baskets from Justus Baldwin and Michael Armstrong gave Shaw a 7-6 lead.  The Lions responded to take a 14-7 lead with 13:37 left in the first half.  Gabriel Joseph-Bryan ended a Lincoln run with a rebound and putback basket leaving Shaw down 20-10 at the 9:13 media timeout.

The Bears pushed back with a 6-0 run to cut the Lions lead to 20-16 after a Nakwan Kitchens dunk from Baldwin. Another Kitchens dunk made it 20-18. Lincoln answered with a run of their own to extend the Bears deficit to 28-18 at the last media break of the half. Corey Rutherford's three made the score 30-24 wish Shaw trailing with just under a minute left. The Bears could get no closer as they headed into the locker room trailing 32-25 after one half of play.

Both teams traded baskets to start the half with Shaw being unable to cut into their deficit with the Bears trailing 38-30 with 16:46 left. The Lions lead grew to 43-30 before the Bears called a timeout with 15:23 remaining. Shaw couldn't slice into the deficit any deeper as Shaw still trailed by 10 with 10:30 left. The Lions lead grew to as many as 17 before a Shaw run trimmed the Lincoln lead to 61-50 with 4:49 remaining. The Bears would get as close as 65-58 with 2:04 but missed three shots to get it any closer before eventually falling by the 68-58 final.

Baldwin paced the Shaw offense with 15 points followed by Simmons with 12 points. The Bears finished the contest shooting 35% from the floor including just 28% from beyond the arc.

Shaw continues their road trip as they travel to Richmond, VA to face the Virginia Union University Panthers. Tipoff is slated for 4 p.m.