No. 7 Shaw, N.C. 92, Wheeling Jesuit 68
The nationally-ranked Bears (27-3) broke open a close game with a 19-0 run in the first half and the Cardinals (22-10) couldn’t dig themselves out of the hole as Shaw punched its ticket to the Atlantic Region championship game.
A Josh Valentic 3-pointer put Wheeling Jesuit up, 15-12, at 10:10 of the first half but the Cardinals’ next nine possessions produced nothing but seven missed shots and three turnovers as the Bears took complete command.
Shaw reeled off 19 unanswered points over the next five minutes to turn that 3-point deficit into a 31-15 lead and the North Carolina squad kept right on rolling to a 40-20 halftime advantage.
Wheeling Jesuit mounted an early surge at the start of the second half, trimming the margin to 47-38 on a Marquis Moore jumper with 14:16 to go but the Bears scored 13 of the next 14 points to go up, 60-39, at the midway point of the second half and coasted to the easy win.
Karron Johnson’s 22 points led all scorers for Shaw while Curtis Hines added 18 points off the bench. Tony Smith impressed with a double-double of 13 points and 10 assists while Atlantic Region Player of the Year chipped in with 13 points.
Colin Barth scored all 17 of his points in the second half to pace Wheeling Jesuit, which also got 12 points from Steve Catich and 10 each from Recardo Gaddy and Marquis Moore.
