PITT-JOHNSTOWN SNAPS BOWIE STATE WIN STREAK AT THREE WITH 106-94 VICTORY

PITT-JOHNSTOWN SNAPS BOWIE STATE WIN STREAK AT THREE WITH 106-94 VICTORY

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – Bowie State shot as season-high 57.1 percent from the floor (36-of-63) but fall short at Pitt-Johnstown by a score of 106-94. The loss puts the Bulldogs overall record at 3-5 and snaps a three-game win streak.

Senior Byron Westmoreland, who leads NCAA Division II in scoring at 28.4 points per game, and fellow senior Najee White, each scored 26 points for Bowie State. Senior Dameatric Scott came off the bench to add 16 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Junior Ray Gatling started his first game of the season and scored a personal season-high 10 points. As a team, the Bulldogs were held to a season-low 27 rebounds with just seven coming on the offensive end.

Bill Luther scored a career-high 34 points and hit 10 3-pointers to tie the Pitt-Johnstown single-game record, and Nick Novak added 30 points to lead the Mountain Cats. The victory improves the Pitt-Johnstown record to 5-2.

                                             

The Mountain Cats started fast. Novak gave Pitt-Johnstown a 12-7 lead less than four minutes in, and Miller pushed it out to 19-12 at 13:55. After another basket by Novak just over a minute later, giving the Mountain Cats their largest lead of the half at 23-14, Bowie State stormed back.

White started a 15-5 Bulldogs run over the next five minutes to take their first lead at 29-28 on a Westmoreland lay-up at the 7:43 mark. Gatling scored on layup with 5:06 left in the half, putting Bowie State up by four. However, the Mountain Cats outscored the Bulldogs 8-2 the rest of the way to take a 44-38 halftime advantage.

Bowie State pulled to within early in the second half following to White free throws, but Luther's sixth 3-pointer of the game pushed the Pitt-Johnstown lead to 60-53 with 15:16 to play. Two more 3-pointers from Luther got the lead into double digits at the 13-minute mark, and another basket by Novak at 8:34 made it a 21-point advantage.

Bowie State scored the next nine points and outscored the Mountain Cats 17-9 over the next 4:18 to pull to within 11 at 89-78 on Gatling's lay-up and free-throw.

Luther's record-tying 10th 3-pointer came with 3:14 to play get the lead back to 16 points and the Mountain Cats coasted to the 12-point win.
 

UPJ’s Jordan Miller finished with 16 points, four rebounds, and six assists while Andrew Cressler collected a double-double of 14 points and a game-high 10 rebounds to round out the double figure scorers.

The Mountain Cats shot 50.8 percent (33-of-65) for the game, and made 17 of their 31 3-pointers. Pitt-Johnstown, which held a 39-27 advantage on the glass, also shot 23-of-30 from the free throw line.

The Bulldogs close out the first semester with a cross-town matchup at the University of the District of Columbia – Wednesday (December 12) at 7 pm. Bowie State will then break for the holiday before opening conference play at home (January 3) against Livingstone College.