BULLDOGS BREEZE TO A 94-79 HOME OPENER WIN OVER CHEYNEY WOLVES

BULLDOGS BREEZE TO A 94-79 HOME OPENER WIN OVER CHEYNEY WOLVES

BOWIE, Md. – Playing at home for the first time this season, Bowie State University used the home court advantage and breezed past Cheyney University 94-79. The win was the third straight for the Bulldogs and sets the BSU record at 3-4 overall.

The contest see-sawed back in forth the first ten minutes.  Trailing by one, 17-16, Cheyney’s Deshawn Curtis nailed back to back three-pointers to give the Wolves a five point advantage, their largest of the night.  With 6:18 to go in the half, Bowie State senior Byron Westmorland hit a three pointer turning a one point deficit into a two point lead that the Bulldogs would not relinquish.  Westmoreland scored a game high 35 points including seven three pointers.

The Bulldogs defense forced 10 Wolves turnovers in the first half and converted those miscues into 13 points and went into halftime with a slim 38-35 lead. Bowie State shot a chilly 39.4 percent from the field in the first half (13-of-33) compared to 42.9 percent (15-of-33) for Cheyney.

Senior Bryan Wilson drilled a 3-pointer for the Bulldogs’ first points of the second half and BSU senior Dameatric Scott followed with a fastbreak dunk on their very next possession.

The Bulldogs built the lead up to seven before Cheyney went on an 8-2 run to cut the lead to 53-52 after a Curtis lay-up with 15:24 to play.  The Bulldogs immediately responded with ten unanswered points to push the lead to double digits where it would stay for most of the second half. 

A Westmorland triple at the 6:01 mark of the second half gave the Bulldogs their largest lead of the night (78-60) and the Wolves would get no closer than 11 points (80-69) on a dunk by Brandon Norfleet.

Cheyney (1-1) was led by Curtis with a team-high 18 points. Norfleet with and Jayvon Beaty added 15 points each and Chris Burney chipped in 19 points to go along with a game-high 11 rebounds.

In addition to Westmorland’s output, Scott finished the night with a season-high 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting and added five rebounds, two assists and two steals. Wilson handed out a career-best seven assists to go along with 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting and added a season-best seven rebounds. Senior Najee White also scored in double figures, contributing a dozen points.

The Bulldogs return to action Wednesday (December 5) on the road at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown. Bowie State will close out the first semester with 7 pm road contest against the University of D.C. on Wednesday (December 12).