Shaw University Bears Fayetteville State Spectacular Magazine Lawrence Davis III

Shaw Bears Lose Tough Game to Fayetteville State

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – The Shaw University men’s basketball team returned to the road after a quick homestand to face Fayetteville State University where the Bears fell to the Broncos 85-77 Saturday afternoon in a Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Southern Division matchup inside of the Felton J. Capel Arena.

With the loss, Shaw falls to 4-11 overall, 1-8 CIAA and 0-4 Southern Division. FSU improves to 14-3 on the season, 5-3 CIAA and 3-1 in the Southern Division.

Fayetteville State started the contest using their big size advantage early going inside for points building an early 15-7 lead. The Bears were able to trim the Broncos lead to 17-13 with 8:08 left in the half before FSU pushed their lead back up to 22-13. Shaw pulled within four at 24-20 with two chances to tie the contest but was unable to connect and found themselves trailing 33-26 at the break. Senior guard Greyson Kelley (Raleigh, NC) was the offensive spark for the Bears during the opening half with 13 points.

The second half was all FSU to begin as they pushed their single-digit lead to 44-28 and to as much as 20 points (54-34) with 13:30 remaining. However, senior guard DeVaughn Kelsie (Richmond, VA) inserted himself as the Bears leader on offense and guided Shaw on a run trimming the FSU lead to 69-59 with 6:47 left. Kelsie added a deep three to trim the Bears deficit to 69-64 with 5:20 remaining. That scoring spread would be as close as the Bears could get before FSU regained control of the contest pushing their lead back up to double digits and walking away with the divisional win.

Kelsie led all scorers with a season-high 36 points while Kelley followed with 23 points. Denzell Hosch and Darian Dixon paced the Broncos with 20 points each. The Bears finished shooting 38-percent from the floor and 56-percent from the three-point range.

The Bears will return to action on Wednesday, Jan. 15 as Shaw hosts Livingstone College. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. inside of the historic C.C. Spaulding Gymnasium.