BOX SCORE

PHOTO GALLERY (Courtesy of Carroll Smith) 

(BOWIE, Md.) Sophomore Byron Westmorland (Baltimore, MD, Mergenthaler, Baltimore City C.C.) torched the A.C. Jordan Arena nets for a season and career-high 27 points to lead the surging Bowie State Bulldogs over the Shaw Bears 85-74. The win, Bowie State's third in a row, improves the Bulldogs to 8-2 overall and 3-0 in the CIAA.

Shaw (9-4, 2-2 CIAA) hit only 39 percent (27-of-70) for the evening which included two of 15 three point attempts. Bowie State hit 11 of 20 from beyond the three-point line (55 percent), 33-of-62 total field goals and finished the game with a 53.2 shooting percentage. The 11 triples and 53.2 percent were season-highs for the Bulldogs.

The first half of the game could be easily summarized by its closing minutes. With 2:22 left in the half, Tony Smith's pass found Devon Mclendon in the lane for an easy layup, cutting the Bowie State lead to one, 37-36.

After a BSU turnover, Mclendon missed on a three, Bowie State's Westmorland hit a three. Germann Bostic missed another three for the Bears, then Westmorland hit a jumper, was fouled, and converted the old-fashioned three – taking what was once a one-point Shaw deficit, into a seven in under two minutes.

Westmorland's first half included going seven of eight overall, including five of five from beyond the arc. He scored 20 in the opening half, and helped his team build a 43-36 lead at the half.

In the opening minutes of the second half, the Bulldogs increased their lead to 13 quickly when junior Travis Hyman (Annapolis, MD, Old Mill, Anne Arundel C.C.) hit two free throws with 18:02 left in the game. For four minutes, the Bears played BSU evenly, still trailing by 11 with 14:06 left.

Over the next four minutes, the Shaw scored ten unanswered points, cutting the lead to one on a pair of Mclendon free throws, 59-58.

The game's momentum would switch entirely in the next minute. After a Westmorland layup put the score at 61-58 with 9:47 left in the game, Devon Mclendon was called for a foul, then disagreed, drawing a technical foul. The Bulldogs sank two of the four awarded free throws, and continued what would become a ten-point scoring streak of their own to reclaim an 11-point lead with 8:38 left in the game.

Shaw scored the next four points, but could never cut the lead under six, only trimming the final deficit to 11 on a Jaime Boyer three with only two second left for the final of 85-74.

Tony Smith neared a triple-double with 14 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists. Mclendon led the Bears with 16 points. Dwight Bell added 13 and Raheem Smith had 12.

Junior Darren Clark (Largo, MD, Largo, Lincoln University of Pennsylvania) chipped in 15 points and Hyman added 13. Clark led BSU with nine rebounds to go along with five assists.

Bowie State welcomes Saint Augustine's College to A.C. Jordan Arena – Saturday (1/15) for a nationally televised broadcast beginning at 5:05 pm.