Saturday,
December 8, 2001
PRESBYTERIAN’S
RAYFORD LEADS #21 BLUE HOSE TO 78-73
UPSET WIN OVER #15 SHAW UNIVERSITY
Rayford scores 1,000th career point in victory
CLINTON,
SC — Presbyterian
College junior guard Chuck
Rayford (Greenville, SC) scored a season-high 28
points to lead the #21st ranked Blue Hose to a 78-73 upset win
over #15 Shaw University Bears in men’s basketball action
Saturday night.
Rayford
led the way with a season-high
28 points on 13-of-14 shooting from the free throw
line, all in the second half.
The
Bears opened the game on a 9-2 run, hitting four-of-five field
goals including a pair of dunks. The Blue Hose responded with
a 18-0 run in the next eight minutes to take a commanding 20-9
lead with 9:32 remaining in the first half. Five different
players for PC scored during the run led by Rayford who had a
pair of layups.
Shaw
cut the lead to five points at 22-17 on a layup by senior
guard Ronald Murray (Philadelphia,
PA) with 4:51 remaining. Once again the Blue Hose responded
with a 7-2 run to end the half a take a 29-19 lead into
intermission.
The
Bears cooled off from their red-hot shooting in the opening
minutes of the half to shoot 31.0% from the field while Blue
Hose picked up the pace and shot 46.4% from the field.
The
second half saw Shaw cut the lead to six points at 36-30 at
the 15:37 mark after going on a 11-7 run highlighted by a pair
of three-pointers by junior guard J.R.
Raymond (Gastonia, NC). The Blue Hose responded like they
did all night with a 9-0 run led by three-pointer by sophomore
guard Matt
Scully (Dunwoody, GA) and extended the lead to 45-30
with 12:19 left in the game.
The
Bears fought their way back into the game down the stretch
using a full-court press and with 4:32 left in the game, found
themselves down 55-51. Rayford held off the Bears scoring 13
points in the final four minutes of the game including
10-of-11 from the free throw line.
Joining
Rayford for scoring honors was junior forward Jeff Whittle (Strasburg, VA) who
scored 16 points and added six rebounds. The Blue Hose won the
battle of the boards 38-24 led by junior center Rod
Isom (Anderson, SC) who tallied a game-high seven
rebounds to go with his eight points. Rayford reached a career
milestone tonight as he scored his 1,000th career point in the
first half.
Shaw
was led by Raymond’s game-high 29 points on eight-of-19
three-pointers and added five assists while Murray added a
solid performance of 24 points, seven assists, and six
rebounds. Junior forward Jarett
Kearse (Philadelphia, PA) rounded out the double-figure
scorers for Shaw with 10 points off the bench.
#21 Presbyterian improves to 7-2 on the season while the #15-ranked Bears fall to 6-1.