BOWIE, Md. - Virginia Union senior Calvin Brown (Portsmouth, Va.) popped a short jumper in overtime to help the Panthers top the struggling Bowie State Bulldogs 85-83. The loss, BSU's third overtime loss of the season, sets the Bulldogs record at 0-2 in the very important Northern Division, 3-5 in the CIAA and 7-10 overall.
“We simply broke defensively and on the glass in the second half, especially in the last seven minutes”’ said a dejected Bulldogs head coach Darrell Brooks. The Bulldogs committed a season-high 26 turnovers, 17 in the second half.
Bulldogs senior Byron Westmorland (Baltimore, Md.) recorded a game-high 22 points and tied for team-high rebound honors with nine to lead Bowie State. Senior Dameatric Scott (Hagerstown, Md.) chipped in 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting that included 4-of-5 behind the 3-point line. Junior Ray Gatling (Oxon Hill, Md.) added 13 points and fellow junior Carlos Smith (Baltimore, Md.) rounded out Bowie State’s double figure scorers with 10 points and a season-high four blocks.
The Panthers were led by junior Cordero Holt (Alexandria, Va.) with 21 points. Senior Wesley Simmons (Richmond, Va.) and sophomore Marcel Crump (Richmond, Va.) recorded 15 points each and senior Juan Wilson (Richmond, Va.) added 13 points in the upset. Wilson was Virginia Union’s top rebounder on the night, grabbing nine.
Bowie State’s defense held Virginia Union to 29.7 percent shooting (11-of-37) in the first half and held a comfortable 40-26 halftime lead. The Bulldogs blocked a season-high nine shots against the Panthers.
The Bulldogs held a double-digit lead much of the second half until the Panthers roared back with a 25-11 run to pull within one at 71-70 on a Crump layup with 1:19 remaining in regulation. A pair of Simmons free throws on Virginia Union’s next possession gave the Panthers their first lead (72-71) since the 17:13 mark of the first half.
BSU senior Najee White made one of two free throws to tie the game at 72 only to have VUU freshman Te’Quan Alers (Fredericksburg, Va.) sink one free throw to shift the advantage back to the Panthers.
Virginia Union (4-11, 2-6 CIAA, 1-1 North) led 75-72 following a pair of Simmons free throws with 18 seconds left on the packed A.C. Jordan Arena clock. However, Bowie State’s Westmorland drained a deep triple in front of the Bulldogs bench to knot the game at 75-75, sending the contest into overtime.
The overtime period was all Virginia Union as the Panthers went 4-of-6 from field, compared to 0-of-2 from the field for Bowie State’s Bulldogs. All eight of Bowie State’s overtime points came via the charity stripe, with six coming from Westmorland.
Brooks closed his post-game comments saying, “Our guys have a lot of heart but we don’t have the discipline to be a championship team”!
Bowie State University will look to snap their two-game slide with a 4 pm CIAA Divisional road game at Chowan University on Saturday (January 26th).
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