Virginia Union Panthers Outlast Bowie State's Bulldogs 82-71
“We weren’t deserving on winning tonight … They
outworked us, they out fought us, they outrebounded us and I tip my hat
to them”, said Bowie State Head Coach Darrell Brooks.
Bowie State started the game slow as Virginia Union
jumped to a quick 13-1 lead at the 17:22 mark. But the Bulldogs chipped
away at the Panthers lead and eventually tied the game at 27 apiece at
the 6:05 mark. The score for the remainder
of the period stayed close as Bowie State finally took the 37-36 lead
going into halftime.
Unlike the first half, Bowie State controlled the
lead for most of the period. They held it up until the 6:39 mark, when
Virginia Union’s Terrell Leach converted on a layup to put the Panthers
up, 64-62. With Leach going on a scoring rampage
in the second half, the Bulldogs were unable to recapture its lead and
eventually saw the game slip out of their hands.
Senior David Belle (Hyattsville, Md.), who scored
his 1,000th career point at the 6:34 mark in the first half, led the
Bulldogs in scoring with 17 points. Senior Juwan Smith (Lexington Park,
Md.) followed up with 13 points. Junior Justin
Route (Washington D.C.) added 12 points while seniors Cameron Haynes
(Upper Marlboro, Md.) and Saiquan Jamison (Upper Marlboro, Md.) scored
10 points each.
Virginia Union was led by Leach who scored 30
points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field. Raemaad Wright added 21
points and Jordan Peebles followed up with 12 points.
For the game, Virginia Union shot 55 percent
(30-of-55) from the field, 27 percent (3-of-11) behind the 3-point line
and made 73 percent (19-of-26) of its free throws. The Panthers
dominated inside, outscoring the Bulldogs 50-22 in the
paint.
Bowie State shot 39 percent (24-of-61) from the
field, 41 percent (10-of-24) from long-distance and made 54 percent
(13-of-24) of its free throws. The Bulldogs held advantages in points
off turnovers (19-16) and bench points (26-12).
Bulldog Women’s Basketball Topples Nationally Ranked Virginia Union 49-44
BOWIE, Md. –
Junior
Talanya Hutton (Seat Pleasant, MD) did a little bit of everything for
the Bulldogs as the team beat rivals Virginia Union 49-44 on Thursday
evening. The third-year player scored team-high 17
points while Shameka McNeill led the Virginia Union Lady Panthers in
scoring with 13 points. Bowie State improves to 17-3, (7-2 CIAA / 1-1
North) while Virginia Union dips to 16-3 overall, 7-2 in league play and
2-2 in the division.
Bowie State
played
some tough defense and a balanced offensive attack to claim the win. As
a team, the Bulldogs held the Lady Panthers to shooting just 33.3
percent (17-of-51) from the
floor while shooting only 28.6 percent (14-of-49) from the floor in the
game.
The
Lady Panthers took control of the game early in the first quarter by
going on a 7-0 run. McNeill hot start gave
VUU a 10-1 lead after knocking down a deep three at 7:11. VUU pulled
away 14-6 after Ifunanya Okoye’s layup with 2:22 remaining. However, the
Bulldogs allowed the Lady Panthers to close the quarter with a pair of
free throws to stay ahead, 18-9.
The
second quarter had a similar look as the Bulldogs were slow to get
started. VUU’s Breonn Hughey deep ball took
the Lady Panthers lead to 22-13 at the 5:21 mark. However, BSU would
fight back to keep the game close. Senior Dynaisha Christian’s
(Pocomoke, Md.) layup made the score 22-20 before Okoye answered with a
layup of her own. The Panthers ended the period on top
27-22 after Hughey went 1-2 at the charity stripe.
Bowie
State made the third stanza the most competitive even though they were
outscored 12-11. Hutton’s deep ball cut
the deficit to 27-25 before sophomore Drew Calhoun (New Carrollton,
Md.) tied it at 29-all with a three of her own with 7:03 to go. The Lady
Panthers would however regain control late in the quarter after
McNeill’s layup pushed the lead to 39-33 to end the
period.
Although
the Bulldogs were outscored 22-14 in the paint, they held an advantage
in points off turnover 22-16 after
forcing 24 Lady Panthers’ turnovers. Bowie State Senior Shawnkia
McCallum (Baltimore, Md.) opened the period with a three pointer at the
5:42 mark. Both teams would go back and forth throughout the quarter
with Bowie State grabbing its first lead at 45-44
after Christian’s layup with just 17 seconds remaining in the contest.
From there, the Bulldogs would close out the Panthers to capture the
victory.
Bowie State returns to action Saturday (2/1) hosting Virginia State University. Tipoff is slated for 2:00 p.m.