Gatling Scores Career-High 30 Points in Bowie State's 78-66 Win over Virginia Union

Gatling Scores Career-High 30 Points in Bowie State’s 78-66 Win over Virginia Union

BOWIE, Md. – Bowie State led from beginning to end, sweeping the season series against Virginia Union and defeated the Panthers 78-66. The win keeps Bulldogs atop the conference’s Northern Division with a record of 6-2, 7-7 in the CIAA and 13-12 overall.

Senior Ray Gatling (Oxon Hill, Md.) recorded a career and game-high 30 points on 11-20 shooting to go along with eight assists, five rebounds and a steal. Junior Cameron Knox (Baltimore, Md.) came off the bench to contribute 14 points and senior Carlos Smith (Baltimore, Md.) grabbed a game-high nine rebounds for Bowie State.

“I thought we played a really good 30 minutes but the last 10 minutes (of the game) we lost focus on both ends of the floor, but I’m very happy with a win”, said Bowie State head coach Darrell Brooks.

The Panthers were paced by Avery Jirmnson (Harlem, N.Y.) and Ray Anderson (Wilmington, Del.) with 17 points apiece. Anderson had a team-high seven caroms while Omar Briggs scored 10 points for Virginia Union.

The Bulldogs opened the game with an 8-0 shutout over the first two minutes, all on Gatling field goals. Gatling drilled two deep 3-pointers to start things off and added a layup, forcing Virginia Union head coach Luqman Jaaber to burn a timeout.

Following the time out, the Panthers responded with a 7-0 run, but that’s as close as Virginia Union would get for the remainder of the game. Anderson was responsible for two of the field goals during that run and Akanni Salako (Bowie, Md.) drilled a 3-pointer.

A Gatling jumper at the 10:44 mark of the first half capped off a 13-4 Bulldogs run that gave Bowie State their first double-digit lead of the night at 21-11.

Virginia Union (6-17, 5-9 CIAA, 3-5 North) countered with an 11-3 run over the next 3:16 to narrow the Panthers deficit to 24-22 with 7:58 left in the first half.

The Bulldogs would respond with a 6-0 run to give the home team a little breathing room at 31-22 and used that momentum to lead by 12 at intermission with a 46-34 advantage.

Bowie State’s lead ballooned to 20 points (72-52) by the 5:49 mark of the second half only to see Virginia Union make a late surge to close within eight (74-66) with 2:11 left in the contest.

The Bulldogs return to the court on Wednesday (2/19) hosting the Trojans of Virginia State University at 7:30 pm.