Saturday, November 30, 2002

#9 Shaw University holds off Presbyterian 63-59 in men’s basketball action

RALEIGH, NC — Shaw University senior forward Kenyon Booker had 21 points and 15 rebounds, both game highs to lead the #9-ranked Bears past the Blue Hose 63-59 at Dorton Arena.

Shaw (3-0) shot only 32 percent from the field in the first half and trailed the Blue Hose 26-23 at halftime. With the score tied 34-34 with 14:54 left in the second half, the Bears went on a 13-4 run and held their biggest lead of the game 47-38 with 6:38 remaining in the game. Senior guard Cedric Lusk sparked the run with a pair  of three-pointers and finished the game with 15 points.

Presbyterian (5-2) would fight back and cut the lead to 47-45 with 5:04 remaining.  But the Bears would not be denied making their free throws down the stretch, going 19-23 in the second half.

Senior guard Chuck Rayford (Greenville, S.C.) led the Blue Hose with 20 points. Senior center Rod Isom (Anderson, S.C.) was also in double figures with 14 points.

Rayford continues to move up the South Atlantic Conference career scoring chart, passing a pair of former Catawba College standouts in Mike Feller (1992-96) and Art Wade (1994-98) for sixth place. Rayford now has 1,495 career points to his credit and needs 62 points to move into fifth place currently held by former Catawba College standout Marvin Moore (1995-99) who scored 1,556 points in his career.