BOX SCORE

(BOWIE, Md.) Senior Armond Hill (Silver Spring, MD, Springbrook, Montgomery - Rockville C.C.) recorded career-highs of 24 points and 16 rebounds to lead Bowie State University to a key CIAA Eastern Division victory over Virginia State University. The win improves Bowie State's record to 14-8 overall, 12-6 in the CIAA and 4-2 in the East.

The BSU Bulldogs jumped on Virginia State from the opening tip and shot a blistering 62 percent from the field on 16-of-26 field goal shooting. Bowie State began the game with a 7-0 run before the visiting Trojans scored their first bucket at the 18:01 mark.

Virginia State outscored Bowie State 12-7 over the next five minutes to close the gap to 14-12. A pair of jumpers by Bowie State's Hill with a 3-pointer by senior Andrew Engel (Glen Burnie, MD, Old Mill, Colby C.C.) wedged in the middle pushed the Bulldogs lead to 21-12.

Virginia State (6-18, 4-14 CIAA, 2-4 East) did claw back to within three (30-27) with 5:34 left in the first half. A dunk by Bowie State sophomore Travis Hyman (Annapolis, MD, Old Mill, Prince George's C.C.) gave the home team some momentum as the Bulldogs took a 39-30 advantage into intermission. Bowie State turned the ball over 10 times in the first period, allowing Virginia State to score 14 points off those turnovers.

The Bowie State lead grew to 10 points five minutes into the second half and ballooned into a game-high 19 points (65-46) by the 9:47 mark. Just when it appeared the Bowie State rout was on, her come the Trojans. Virginia State went on a 23-5 run over the next eight minutes to trim the deficit to 70-67 with 1:12 left in the game. Dijon Cuffee and Brandon Plummer were directly responsible for a big chuck of the points during the run, scoring 11 and six points respectively.

Another nasty dunk by Bowie State's Hyman and a pair free throws by Hill sealed the victory for the Bulldogs.

Three other Bowie State players scored in double figures with Engel adding 13 on five-of-eight shooting from the field, which included three-of five behind the arc. Junior Eric Vann (Clinton, MD, Gwynn Park, Prince George's C.C.) contributed 12 points on four-of-six shooting and Hyman added 10 points and a game-high five blocks.

As a team, Bowie State ended the game with a 55 percent field goal shooting percentage. What makes that so important? So far this season, whenever Bowie State shoots over 50 percent from the field, the Bulldogs are a perfect 7-0.

Plummer paced Virginia State with 18 points and Trey Mines along with Cuffee shipped in 13 and 11 points respectively for the Trojans.

Bowie State will be back on the court in less than 24 hours, hosting the Lions of Lincoln University of Pennsylvania in a non-conference at 7:30 p.m.