Box Score BOX SCORE

(SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va.)  Bowie State University entered Friday's season opener as the 8th ranked team in Division II and crushed undermanned West Virginia State University 81-53.  The Bulldogs victory was its largest point spread in the four-game career season against the Yellow Jackets.

It took Bowie State about half of the first half to stretch it out on West Virginia State.  The BSU Bulldogs opened up a double-digit lead for good at the 7:54 mark on a 3-pointer by junior Byron Westmorland. 

The Bowie State defense forced West Virginia State into 12 first half turnovers (20 for the game), resulting in 15 Bulldogs' first period points.  Bowie State rolled into halftime holding a commanding 43-19 lead and held the Yellow Jackets to just one field goal over the final 8:13 of the first half.

It only got worse for West Virginia State as Bowie State built its largest lead of the evening (31 points) with 14:24 remaining and the Bulldogs in front 60-29.

West Virginia State shot a chilly 5-of-21 (23.8%) from the floor in the first 20 minutes and ended the game at 34.8% on 16-of-46 shooting.

David Ford led the West Virginia State Yellow Jackets with a team-high 14 points and six rebounds.  Dustin Jones tallied eight points and Delrico Lane along with Robbie Lewis chipped in seven points each.

Westmorland poured in a game-high 27 points (one shy of his career-high) on 12-of-21 shooting and grabbed a team-high six rebounds to pace Bowie State.  Senior Jay Gavin scored 17 points and dished out four assists.  Fellow senior Darren Clark recorded 10 points in the rout to go along with BSU career-high six steals.

Bowie State shot 56.7% in the first half (17-of-30) and closed out the non-conference contest shooting 53.4% hitting 31-of-58 from the field. 

The Bulldogs return to action Saturday night (11/12) against host Shepherd University at 8 pm.  Shepherd's Rams escaped the day one nightcap with a slim 73-71 overtime victory over Virginia State University.