Feb. 14, 2008

PORTSMOUTH, Ohio - The Shawnee State (Ohio) University Men's Basketball Team defeated Wilberforce (Ohio) University 70-60 on Wednesday evening (Feb. 13).  Shawnee State improves to 13-12 (7-4 AMC).  Wilberforce falls to 8-16 (2-9 AMC).

Shawnee State struggled early and trailed 14-5 six minutes into the contest.  The Bears then went on a 15-3 run to take a 20-17 lead with 6:16 to play in the half.  Leading 32-25 at the break, Shawnee State used a 16-6 run to start the second period to lead 48-31 and never looked back.

Aaron Davis led the Bears with 24 points and 7 rebounds.  He became just the 11th player in school history to reach the 1,000 point plateau.  Justin Patrick added 12 points and 6 rebounds.  Keelyn Franklin had 11 points and Jason Overbeck added a career-high 10 points.

Rawlston Charles led Wilberforce with 23 points.  Gerald Akridge was the only other Bulldog to reach double figures with 11 points.

Shawnee State shot 43% (18-42) from the field.  Wilberforce made 23-of-53 attempts from the field for 43.4%.  The Bears held a decided advantage at the free throw line making 26-of-34 attempts compared to 8-of-12 attempts for Wilberforce.

Shawnee State travels to Ohio Dominican University (14-10, 5-5 AMC) on Saturday.  Shawnee State defeated ODU 58-55 in Portsmouth on January 26.  Game time is 4:00 p.m.

For more information on Shawnee State Athletics, please see www.shawnee.edu