Staff report

SALISBURY — Shaw’s men’s basketball team took care of the ball – only seven turnovers – and beat Livingstone 69-66 on Saturday in a CIAA Southern Division matchup at New Trent Gym.

Darius Abraham made five 3-pointers and pumped in 26 points for the visitors, while Trent McIntyre scored 18.

Livingstone got 15  points each from Paul Tako and James Nipper. King Ijeoma (12) and Trey Minard (11) also hit double figures. Jamal Cannady Jr., usually the scoring leader for the Blue Bears, had six assists but had an off shooting day. His only made field goal was a 3-pointer in the final seconds that cut a six-point Shaw lead to three.

Neither team shot well — with Livingstone at 38.7 percent and Shaw at 37.1 percent — but both squads had some success from the 3-point line. Shaw made nine from the bonus line, while Livingstone made eight.

Livingstone (8-10, 1-7) got off to a fantastic start in front of a supportive home crowd of 529. The Blue Bears led 10-0 in the early going, but couldn’t sustain the momentum. Shaw caught up and led 34-31 at halftime.

The last tie in the game came when Nipper made a 3-pointer for 57-all with 6:48 left to play, but Shaw (9-9, 4-4) finished stronger.

Shaw    34    35    — 69

LC        31     35    — 66

LC scoring — P. Tako 15, Nipper 15, Ijeoma 12, Minard 11, Cannady 7, Leak 2, Jenkins 2, Collins-Johnson 2.