FAYETTEVILLE STATE OVERCOMES SLOW START TO DEFEAT SHAW
February 26, 2004
RALEIGH – Fayetteville State University got off to a slow start against Shaw University Thursday, but pulled away in the second half for a 73-56 victory in the quarterfinals of the CIAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at the RBC Center in Raleigh, NC.
Fayetteville State (12-16) received a game-high 21 points from Donell Williams,
the lone Bronco in double figures, on 8-of-16 shooting from the field and 5-of-6
from the foul line.
Shaw (18-10) was paced by Ricky Williams with a team-best 18 points, along
with Anthony Greenup with 11 points, 11 rebounds and six blocked shots.
“ When you can’t put the ball in the hole, you certainly can’t
win basketball games,” head coach Michael Bernard said about his team’s
20-of-64 shooting from the field and 13-of-26 effort from the foul line. “We
had difficulty getting into our offense and they did a great job of doubling-down
on Anthony Greenup. They out-hustled us and they are very deserving of moving
on.”
The Bears jumped out to a 16-5 advantage when Ricky Williams dropped a three-pointer
at 12:23 of the first half. The Broncos responded with a 12-1 run to tie the
game at 17-17 with a pair of free throws by Donell Williams at the 9:02 mark.
Shaw’s Tomas Grinkevicius and FSU’s Kenny Haywood exchanged free
throws before a layup by Donell Williams gave the Broncos their first lead
at 21-19 with 8:23 to play before intermission.
FSU closed the half with a 7-1 spurt to go ahead 38-29 at the break.
Shaw cut the deficit to two points twice in the second half before a 15-4 run
by the Broncos put the game out of reach at 57-44 with 8:24 to go.
“ I thought the kids played with a lot of character,” said FSU head
coach Sam Hanger. “We got down early, but our second group came in and
really picked us up and got some life going.”
“
One of the things we try and tell our guys, and they are starting to believe
us now, is that they may have five (players) better than we’ve got, but
let’s see if they have 10,” Hanger added. “We played like
a team tonight, and I am very proud of them.”