Boxscore

RALEIGH, N.C. – The second matchup between Saint Augustine's University and Shaw University came down to which team would make the most plays in the end.

Shaw did, and as a result pulled out an 83-77 CIAA men's basketball victory over St. Aug inside packed Emery Gymnasium on the Falcons' campus on Saturday, Feb. 16, 2013. The loss dropped the Falcons (15-9 overall, 5-3 Southern Division) out of a four-way tie for the Southern Division lead entering the day.

The Falcons have lost three consecutive games since holding a two-game lead in the division over a week ago. Their latest defeat occurred after the Falcons led most of the contest. But the game turned in the Bears' favor in the closing moments.

“[Shaw] made plays when they had to, and we didn't make plays when we had to,” St. Aug Head Coach Lonnie Blow, Jr. said.

The Falcons led by nine early in the second half, but the Bears move ahead 66-65 on a three-pointer with 6:24 remaining in the game. It was the first lead for the Bears since the opening minutes of the contest.

Guard Joel Kindred (Jr./Raleigh, N.C.), who scored a team-high 18 points off the bench on 7 of 11 shooting, put the Falcons back up 67-66 on a jumper. That would be the last lead for the Falcons.

Clutch buckets by the Bears stretched their lead to five before the Falcons made one final push. A three-point play by Kindred moved the Falcons within 77-76 with 2:10 left, but the Bears finished with a 6-1 run. The Bears scored the last four points including a dunk by Taurus Dortch (27 points) off a steal by Latrail McCoy (15 points, 8 assists) with nine seconds left for the final score.

The Bears shot 53 percent in the second half as they outscored the Falcons 46-33. For the game, the Bears shot 54 percent and the Falcons made 48 percent of their shots.

“We didn't defend all night,” Blow said.

Guard Percy Woods (Sr./Washington, D.C.) added 14 points and seven rebounds for the Falcons. Center Jonathan Crawley (So./Richmond, Va.) posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds off the bench for the Falcons, who outscored the Bears 37-20 in bench points. Guard Tyquan Stroman (Sr./Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) and forward Daniel Clark (Fr./Danville, Va.) added nine points each. For the Bears, Junius Chaney scored 14 points and Andre Paulk chipped in 10 points.

The Falcons led much of the first half. They built their lead to 10 points twice and had a 12-point lead with less than a minute left in the half. Five straight points by the Bears cut the Falcons' margin to 44-37 at halftime.

The late first-half run by the Bears didn't bother the Falcons in the second half as they led 53-44 with 16:07 remaining. But the lead slowly got away from the Falcons which led to their defeat.

Both teams split the season series. The Falcons won the first meeting 75-63 on Jan. 26, 2013 in Spaulding Gym on Shaw's campus.

Only two games remain in the regular season for the Falcons, who will attempt to end their three-game slide at Livingstone College in Salisbury, N.C., on Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013. Game time is 7:30 p.m.