Chowan Hawks Nip Bowie State’s Bulldogs 86-83 to Earn Season Split

 

MURFREESBORO, N.C. – The Bowie State University Bulldogs let one slip away on Saturday afternoon, falling short at the Chowan University Hawks by a score of 86-83 but remain in second in the CIAA North.

Bowie State (12-13, 7-7 CIAA, 5-3 North) was led by senior Ahmaad Wilson (Baltimore, Md.) with 24 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field (4-of-8 beyond the arc). Senior Omari George (Baltimore, Md.) hit 6-of-12 field goals and 6-of-7 free throws to finish with 18 points and tied for game-high rebound honors with nine. Sophomore Cameron Hayes (Upper Marlboro, Md.) and senior Dayshawn Wells (Baltimore, Md.) completed Bowie State’s double figure scorers with 15 and 10 points respectively.

The Bulldogs closed out the game shooting 41.3 percent from the field (26-of-63), made 7-of-18 shots behind the 3-point line and 24-of-34 (70.6 percent) at the free throw line.

The first half was tight throughout the first 20 minutes of action with the largest lead of three occurring for Bowie State at 30-27 with 1:50 remaining before intermission and featured seven ties and 14 lead changes. Chowan closed the first half with four straight free to take a slim 31-30 lead into the break.

The Hawks went on an 8-1 run to start the second half to take gain some momentum.  Tim Hewett hit a jumper before threes by Robert Grubbs and Gus Rowland opened an eight-point lead for the Hawks at 39-31.

Chowan would push their advantage to double-figures midway through the half as Demetrius Sanders scored the next six points for the Hawks while Hewett and Grubbs added two points in the swing.

The Hawks maintained a double-figure lead that would grow to a game-high 14, 68-54, after Rowland knocked down a trey with 6:04 remaining.

Down the stretch Bowie State outscored the Hawks 29-18 going 8-of-11 from the floor and 11-13 from the free throw line. Bowie State chipped away at the deficit closing the gap to one, 75-74, with 2:14 remaining before two freebies by Rowland and jumper by Dino Muminovic pushed the lead back to five at 79-74.

The Bulldogs would keep fighting closing the gap to one on two separate occasions had a chance to tie the contest at 84-all as the Bulldogs’ Wilson missed the front end of three attempts at the stripe.

Hewett sealed the win with a pair of free throws with 1.3 seconds left on the clock.  The final attempt by the Bulldogs hit off the back iron.

Chowan (11-13, 5-9 CIAA, 3-5 North) was led by a 26-point explosion by Demetrius Sanders on 9-of-15 shooting from the field while Gus Rowland tallied 16 points in the victory. The Hawks duo of Robert Grubbs and Tim Hewitt contributed 14 and 13 points respectively. Chowan’s Trevis Buckhannon tied for game-high rebound honors with nine to go along with six points.

As a team, Chowan recorded a dozen assists, shot 49 percent from the field (25-of-51), which included 8-of-15 beyond the 3-point line but managed to make just 28-of-41 (68.3 percent) at the charity stripe. The Hawks out-rebounded the Bulldogs 37-33 but the Bowie State bench outscored Chowan’s bench 21-8.

The Bulldogs return home to take on the Trojans of Virginia State University on Wednesday (February 21^st) at 7:30 p.m. in Bowie State’s A.C. Jordan Arena.