Shaw Bears Persevere to Defeat Bluefield State, 83-79

RALEIGH, North Carolina – The Shaw University men's basketball team rallied from a 12 point deficit in the second half to defeat the visiting Blues of Bluefield State College on Thursday evening to conclude the 2015 portion of the season in their non-conference finale.

Shaw improves to 4-9 on the season, while Bluefield State drops to 4-12 on the year.

Larry Richardson, II (Garner, NC) scored 17 points, including 6-of-6 from the foul line, while Joell Hopkins, Jr. (Raleigh, NC) and David Madol (Manchester, NH) scored 12 points each. Defensively, Madol had a team-best nine rebounds, while Hopkins, Jr. collected seven.

The Bears opened up play with an 8-2 run over the Blues but BSC would claw their way back to tie the game at 15-all at the 9:31 mark.

The lead changed four times before the Blues took the final lead of the half sparked by hot shooting from their guards. BSC was able to connect 8-of-18 from the 3-point line for 44.4 percent in route to a 39-35 lead over the Bears at halftime.

Although the Bears outscored the Blues in the paint 14-8, BSC was able to score 11 points off of Shaw's turnovers, while adding eight points in second chances and posting a 12-3 advantage in bench scoring.

Richardson, II opened up the second half with a 15-footer to chop at the Blues lead (39-37) but BSC responded with an easy layup to extend the lead to three points at the 18:56 mark. From there the Blues would continue to lead most of the half as they built their largest lead of the game at 12 points with 11:20 left.

Despite sluggish play and trailing by double digits, the Bears showed life and intensity as they were able to get within two-points with 6:00 showing on the game clock. The next possession down, Jamar Cooper (Petersburg, VA) gave the Bears their first lead of half with a deep 3-pointer at the 5:45 mark (65-64) which charged a 7-2 run for the Bears.

From there, Shaw was able to maintain control the game at their tempo to close out the contest with the 83-79 win.

Mark Durgan led all scorers with 31 points and six assists, while Joshua Windham and Chas Harvey scored 15 points each for the Blues.

Shaw will return action on Monday, Jan. 2nd to host Chowan University for a CIAA conference matchup. Tip-off is slated for 8 p.m.

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

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