Feb. 19, 2011
Final Stats
RALEIGH, NC -- With Johnson C. Smith playing the role of spoiler, the Fayetteville State Broncos had a chance to ascend even higher in the CIAA's Southern Division standings.
But in front of a raucous crowd cheering every moment of a back-and-forth game, the Shaw Bears used a critical run late in the second half and swept the regular season series from the Broncos following an 84-70 victory in a game that was much closer than the final score indicated on Saturday night.
With the win and the Rams' 68-50 loss to the Golden Bulls, the regionally-10th ranked Bears (17-7, 10-5, 6-2) move into sole possession of first place in the Southern Division, leading the Rams by a game and Fayetteville State (13-11, 8-7, 4-4) by two games. Each team has two games remaining in the regular season before the CIAA Tournament, with Fayetteville State and Winston-Salem State to close things out in Felton J. Capel Arena on Saturday, Feb. 26.
The game was tight throughout, with the teams exchanging slim leads. Fayetteville Statem, which could have moved into a share of first place had it managed to beat Shaw, opened the game hot, and took a 20-15 edge midway through the first period. But Shaw responded with a 10-3 run to close the first half and take a 41-36 lead into the break.
Little changed in the second half. Shaw led by four with 12 minutes to go before Travis Marcus (Fr., Raleigh, NC) capped a 7-0 Broncos spurt with a 3-pointer to hand Fayetteville State a 56-55 edge with 10:32 to go.
But Shaw came right back with the game's decisive run, scoring 12 of the next 14 points to build a 68-58 advantage with just 6:10 remaining. The Broncos managed to trim the deficit back to six, 75-69, with 2:30 left, but the Bears closed the game on a 9-1 run for the game's final margin and win for the sixth straight time. Fayetteville State had its season-high three-game winning streak snapped.
Tony Smith led Shaw with 20 points to go with six assists and five rebounds. Devon McLendon, who had 20 points and 12 rebounds in Shaw's win over the Broncos on Jan. 31, added 18 points and 10 rebounds on Saturday night. Raheem Smith, the CIAA"s fourth-leading scorer, finished with 15 points while David Jones added 13.
Jarmel Baxter (Jr., Davidson, NC) led Fayetteville State with 15 points while Sidney Evans (Jr., Durham, NC) fought foul trouble in scoring 14 points to go with six rebounds. John Herrington (Jr., Jacksonville, FL) added 10 rebounds and a team-high seven rebounds and Tyrell Tate (Fr., Raleigh, NC) had nine points.
Fayetteville State travels to play Livingstone on Monday. The Broncos defeated the Blue Bears 92-78 on Feb. 12 and would likely need to win to still have a shot at as high as a No. 2 seed out of the Southern Division.
