BOX SCORE

(BOWIE, Md.)  Sophomore Travis Hyman (Annapolis, MD, Old Mill, Prince George's C.C.) and junior Eric Vann (Clinton, MD, Gwynn Park, Prince George's C.C.) scored 18 points each to lead Bowie State to a convincing 76-54 victory over the Tigers of Saint Paul's College.  The win improves the Bowie State record to 15-9 overall, 13-6 in the CIAA and 4-2 in the East.

“This was a big win for us because it allows us to play for an Eastern Division championship (Saturday) against Virginia Union”, said head coach Darrell Brooks.

It's not how you start but how you finish which was evident for Bowie State's Bulldogs. Saint Paul's led Bowie State the first 7-minutes and 32 seconds until a 3-point field goal by Bulldogs freshman Keith Thomas (Lanham, MD, Gwynn Park) tied the game at 14-14. Fellow freshman Bryan Wilson (Upper Marlboro, MD, Riverdale Baptist School) followed that with a triple of his own and Bowie State would not relinquish the lead for the rest of the night.

Good field goal shooting was a key component for Bowie State with the Bulldogs sticking 14-of-27 from the floor (52 percent). Saint Paul's didn't shoot badly from the floor in the first half either, hitting 12-of-27 (44 percent), but Bowie State went into intermission leading 35-31.

Bowie State took the Tigers by the tail and rattled off a 27-8 run to take a very comfortable 64-39 advantage by the 7:22 mark of the second half. BSU's Bulldogs kept the hot hand in the final period, hitting 14-of-28 in the final 20 minutes. The Bowie State defense also put the clamps on Saint Paul's, holding Saint Paul's to 10-of-31 from the field in the second half and 22-of-58 overall (28 percent).

Free throw shooting was pretty bad for both Bowie State and Saint Paul's. The visiting Tigers went to the free throw line 16 times in the game, making just seven. Bowie State had 25 total opportunities, making only 14, but did manage 10-of-15 from the charity stripe in the final period of play.

Both teams racked up 19 turnovers on the night, but Bowie State held a 24-15 points off turnovers advantage. The greatest disparity overall were bench points as Bowie State's bench outscored the Saint Paul's reserves 45-8.

Kendrick Williams and Maurice Reevy led Saint Paul's with 13 and 11 points respectively. Jason Dixon led the Saint Paul's Tigers on the glass, tying for game-high rebound honors with nine to go along with eight points and three assists.

Other than Hyman and Vann's scoring, Bowie State's Wilson and senior Corey Camphor (Upper Marlboro, MD, Bridgton) contributed 11 points each. Wilson and Thomas were responsible for 10 of Bowie State's 16 total assists and Hyman swatted away another five shots in the win.

Bowie State will close out the regular season with a nationally televised home game against the Panthers of Virginia Union – Saturday (February 20). Tip time in BSU's A.C. Jordan Arena is 5:05 p.m.