IT'S ON
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57h Annual CIAA Men’s Basketball Tournament
Thursday, February 28, 2002
Bears Ravage Eagles To Advance to Semifinals
RALEIGH, NC – In the “Battle of the Triangle” one thing was apparent, it was one-sided.
Gerald Raymond scored a game-high 22 points and shot 5-for-11 from 3-point range as the Shaw University Bears pasted the North Carolina Central University by a score of 101-75 to advance to semi-final action of the CIAA Tournament at the Raleigh Entertainment and Sports Arena.
Kenyon Bookers’ putback slam at the 9:38 mark of the first half started a Shaw 6-0 run capped by a Van Williams three ball from the deep corner to give his team a 26-20 lead. Approximately three minutes later the lead ballooned to 13 following a Gerald Raymond three-pointer. Shaw would go on to end the half in a flurry as they went into intermission up 51-32.
The second half was no better than the first for NCCU as the Bears opened up on a 14-3 run to go up by 30 that ended on Gerald Raymond’s fourth three-pointer of the contest. The 17,827 fans began making their way to the parking lot at the 10:45 mark as the Bears held a commanding 71-44 advantage.
Ronald Murray, the 2002 CIAA Player of the Year, had his lowest scoring output of the season but still had a solid all-around performance. Murray finished the game with 11 points, 8 boards and 5 assists.
2002 All-CIAA forward Steve Bynes recorded his eighth double-double by scoring a game-high 17 points with 11 rebounds. Six of his seven field goals were thundering dunks.
“We came out on defense very intense tonight,” said Shaw coach Joel Hopkins. “Our defense made our offense.”
The Eagles were forced into committing 22 turnovers that led to 22 fast breaks for the Bears.
Shaw ended up shooting 36-for-77 from the field for 47 percent, and knocked in 20-for-29 from the charity stripe.
The Eagles had four players in double-figures led by Corey Tabron’s 16 points. Shawn Ray chipped in 14 and Curtis Knight added 12. Jermond Debro had 11 points and 11 boards.
The Bears, ranked No. 15 nationally in Division II, will now face the Rams of Winston-Salem State in tomorrow’s semifinal game scheduled for 9:00 p.m.