BOX SCORE
(RICHMOND, VA) The Panthers of Virginia Union pounced on Bowie State from the opening tip, routing the Bulldogs 84-65. The win improves Virginia Union to 13-2 overall, 8-1 in the CIAA and 4-0 in the Eastern division. The loss snapped a five-game winning streak for Bowie State and drops the Bulldogs to 11-6 overall, 6-4 in the conference and 2-2 in the division.
Virginia Union warmed up the rather chilly Siegel Center with red hot field goal shooting, knocking down nine of their first 11 attempts, including three-of-five behind the 3-point line to take a 29-12 lead by the 10:34 mark. Turnovers also hurt Bowie State with the Bulldogs committing 11 in the first 20 minutes. No matter what the Panthers threw up in the first half, it seemed to make its way through the net. As a team, Virginia Union burned up the nets at a 60 percent clip (15-of-25) and strolled into halftime with a very comfortable 50-32 lead. Bowie State hit seven-of-13 (53.8 percent) behind the arc but just three-of-15 (35.7 percent) inside the arc.
Bowie State's Arthur Bowers closed the Bulldogs deficit to nine (59-48) with a break away lay-up with 11:44 remaining in the contest. LeMoyne Wiliams followed up a Blanks miss with a thunderous dunk and a Brandon Byerson floater in the paint gave Virginia Union a double digit lead again. Orlando Wright answered with a floater in the paint of his own and Jason Ingram made one-of-two free throws to make the score 62-52. Joshua Johnson (eight points) muscled in for a lay-up to narrow the gap to 62-54 at the 9:25 mark, but that's as close as Bowie State would get.
Virginia Union manhandled Bowie State on the inside, scoring 38 points in the paint but BSU's Bulldogs did manage to outrebound the Panthers 34 to 32. Blanks led VUU's Panthers with a game-high 24 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Williams finished the game with 16 points and Brad Byerson along with younger brother Brandon added 11 and 10 points respectively. Greg Smith also scored in double figures, accounting for 16 points.
The Bulldogs were paced by Ingram with 13 points before fouling out of the contest. Curtis Massey and David Paris chipped in 11 points each in the loss. Paris led Bowie State on the glass with nine rebounds on the night.
Bowie State's next outing will take place – Saturday, January 26th against Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte (NC). Game time between the Bulldogs and Golden Bulls is 7:30 p.m. Virginia Union will invade Johnson C. Smith's Brayboy Gymnasium two days earlier (1/24).
