Bowie State Men's Basketball Post Game Story

BOWIE STATE FALTERS IN 85-72 CONFERENCE OPENING LOSS TO LIVINGSTONE

BOWIE, Md. - Livingstone College (9-1 / 1-0 CIAA) shot 56 percent from the floor in the second half and 24 second points by Jody Hill (Detroit, Mich.) make the difference as Bowie State University drops conference opener 85-72. 

“Give credit to Livingstone, but we simply lost focus, especially in the second half”, said Bowie State head coach Darrell Brooks. “We knew Hill was a good shooter coming in, but we had some coverage errors that gave him some good, comfortable looks.”

Bowie State (4-6 / 0-1 CIAA) was led senior Najee White with a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds and fellow senior Byron Westmorland with 21 points.  Senior Dameatric Scott fell just short of a double-double, contributing 14 points and nine rebounds.  

The Livingstone Blue Bears led only once in the first half (3-2) before Bowie State opened a 12 point lead twice at 24-12 and 26-14. The Blue Bears would not go away, cutting the deficit to 38-34 by halftime. Omar Ford-Bey (Chester, Pa.), Eladio Espinoza (Summit, N.J.) and Mark Thomas (Saginaw, Mo.) led Livingstone with nine points each in the first period.

Westmorland, junior Carlos Smith and White combined for 26 first half points to lead the Bulldogs, but Bowie State committed nine of their season-tying 22 turnovers in the first 20 minutes.

Livingstone trimmed the Bowie State lead to 40-39 early in the second half following a pair of free throws by Ford-Bey. A Hill 3-pointer with 12:22 remaining in the game created the only tie at 48-48. The Blue Bears slowed pulled away, opening up a 69-59 double-digit lead with 6:05 left to play and were never threatened after that.

In addition to Hill’s game-high 26 points, Thomas added 17 points, Ford-Bey (15) and Espinoza (12 points). Anthony Welch swatted away a game-high five shots for Livingstone.

Neither team shot well from the charity stripe, with Livingstone making 25-of-41 free throws compared to Bowie State’s 19-of-30 from the free throw line.

When asked about Bowie State’s inability to get stops down the stretch, Brooks said “We’re a full court pressing team, but tonight we didn’t do a good job rotationally”.

The Bulldogs welcome Johnson C. Smith to BSU's A.C. Jordan Arena for a 7:30 pm conference clash on Saturday (January 5).