BOX SCORE

PHOTO GALLERY (Courtesy of Carroll Smith)

(BOWIE, Md.) Junior Ali Djim (Hampton, Va, Bethel, Lincoln Trails C.C.) tipped in a missed free throw with 10.5 seconds remaining in overtime to lift No. 19 Bowie State University to an 82-81 victory over visiting Mansfield University. The win keeps Bowie State unblemished at 5-0 while Mansfield falls to 4-1.

“We had two teams that battled the entire night with both teams wanting to win badly, but we were very, very fortunate to win the game”, said BSU Head Coach Darrell Brooks.

The Mansfield Mountaineers took a 81-80 lead with just under a minute to play in overtime when Derrison Anthony hit one of two free throws. With 12 seconds to play, Djim missed a pair of free throws for Bowie State but Bulldogs senior Eric Vann (Clinton, MD, Gwynn Park, Prince George's C.C.) got the rebound and was fouled. Vann missed both of his free throws but Djim tipped in the rebound off the second miss to give Bowie State the lead.

Mansfield had one final chance but Kurtis Levere's driving end line reverse layup with two seconds rolled off the rim and freshman Trawn Rogers (Baltimore, MD, St. Frances) grabbed the rebound.

Mansfield jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the first three minutes of the game before Bowie State rallied for a 32-27 lead with just over three minutes before halftime. The Mountaineers regained the lead at 36-34 on a tip-in by Anthony as the buzzer sounded to end the first 20 minutes of action.

The guests from Mansfield came out of the locker room on fire, going on a 11-2 run over the first three minutes of the second half , taking a 47-36 advantage. Bowie State's Bulldogs' stormed back, tying the game at 55-55 with 12:08 remaining in regulation on a tip-in by freshman David Brockenberry (Clinton, MD, Potomac).

Bowie State trailed 60-56 after a pair of free throws by Mansfield's Breland Roach at the 7:32 mark before Bowie State retook a 67-65 lead on a jumper by freshman Rasheem King (Brooklyn, NY, Xaverian) with 2:38 left to play. Mansfield went inside to Yuseff Carr on their next two possessions to retake the lead at 69-67 with 90 seconds remaining.

Fortunately for Bowie State, Carr picked up his fifth foul 13 seconds later. Mansfield still extended its lead to 71-68 on a pair of Roach free throws before BSU's Bulldogs cut the lead to 71-70 with 38 seconds to go. Tony Fannick hot one of two free throws to give Mansfield a 72-70 lead, however, Bowie State junior Darren Clark (Largo, MD, Largo, Lincoln University of Pennsylvania) tied the game at 72-72 on a long jumper to send the game into overtime.

Carr and Anthony each recorded double-doubles for Mansfield's Mountaineers with Carr scoring a team-high 17 points and pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds before fouling out. Anthony also scored 17 points to go along with 10 rebounds while Josh DuPuy added 12 points.

Bowie State was led by Clark with a game-high 21 points to go along with seven rebounds and three assists. Sophomore Byron Westmorland (Baltimore, MD, Mergenthaler, Baltimore City C.C.) chipped in a personal season-high of 18 points. Djim closed out the night with season-highs of 11 points and 11 rebounds and Vann rounded out Bowie State's double-figure scoring with 10 points.

“There's a saying that goes it's sometimes better to be lucky than good … The stats say we didn't deserve to win this game but we're very happy to win it”, said Brooks.

Bowie State shot season-lows in field goal percentage (37 percent) and free throws (46 percent). The Bulldogs managed just 1-of-12 behind the 3-point line and turned the ball over a season-high 23 times.

Mansfield struggled as well, going 26-of-68 from the field (38 percent), which included 3-of-14 behind the arc (21 percent) and committed 26 turnovers.

The Bulldogs will play its third and final Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) opponent next Wednesday (December 8), traveling to California University of Pennsylvania at 7 pm.