BOWIE, Md. – Bowie State University men's basketball held off a late game Johnson C. Smith rally, holding on to claim a 61-59 conference victory on Monday evening at the A.C. Jordan Arena, snapping a two-game Bulldogs slide. The victory send Bowie State into the Christmas break with a 2-0 record in the CIAA and 5-7 mark overall.

Down by as many as 14 points midway through the second half, the JCSU Golden Bulls methodically chipped away at the Bulldog lead. Johnson C. Smith's Cayse Minor (Winston-Salem, N.C.) nailed a three pointer to trim the BSU lead to 50-46 with 6:49 to play. Bowie State would boost the lead back to eight points at 56-48 thanks to a long ball from junior Ahmaad Wilson (Baltimore, Md.) with only 2:07 remaining.

JCSU's Christian Kirchman (Roanoke, Va.) would then cut the lead to 56-51 when he sliced through the Bulldogs defense and dropped a layup while being fouled.  He would hit the ensuing free throw with 1:53 left on the clock.

After a Bowie State layup by senior Brian Kelley (Lanham, Md.), JCSU got back-to-back three-pointers from Gabon Williams (Charlotte, N.C.) to cut the gap to 58-57 with 41 seconds to go. After a pair of free throws by Bulldogs senior Khary Doby (College Park, Md.), Kirchman again whittled the lead to one after hitting two free throws with 5.8 seconds left.  Following a JCSU foul that sent Kelley to the line, Kelley made the first free throw but missed the second, giving Golden Bulls a last-second chance.

After Gabon Williams secured the rebound, Kirchman streaked up the left side but his three-point attempt was blocked by senior Michael Briscoe (Waldorf, Md.) as the buzzer sounded.

As a team, JCSU shot 39 percent from the field (23-of-59) while holding BSU to just 33.3 percent (33-of-66) from the field. Bowie State won the battle on the glass, out-rebounding Johnson C. Smith 47-40.

Johnson C. Smith (5-7, 1-1 CIAA) was led by Kirchman's 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field while Gabon Williams added 13 points. Robert Davis (West Friendship, Md.) recorded 12 points for the Golden Bulls and Christian Williams (Chesapeake, Va.) had a productive night on the boards by securing a game-high 13 rebounds.
 
Doby paced Bowie State with 17 points, tying his career-high to go along with a team-high eight rebounds. Junior Ahmaad Wilson (Baltimore, Md.) tallied 16 points and added five rebounds and a pair of steals while Kelley rounded out Bowie State's double figure scorers with 11.
 
The Bulldogs will pause for the Christmas break and return to conference play on Saturday (December 31st), entertaining the Winston-Salem State Rams at 2 p.m.