ERIE, Pa. – Second half struggles are huge factor in Bowie State University men's basketball 81-67 road loss at Gannon University on Wednesday (12/7) evening on Gary Miller Court inside the Hammermill Center.
Gannon led the majority of the opening stanza, leading by as much as dozen points midway through the first half (24-12) before Bowie State stormed back to take its first and only lead at 33-32 on a jumper junior
Ahmaad Wilson (Baltimore, Md.) at the 3:31 mark. The Bulldogs took its largest lead at 38-34 following a 3-pointer by senior
Khary Doby (College Park, Md.) but Gannon used a 8-4 run to send both teams into intermission tied at 42-all.
Bowie State started very slow at the start of the second half and trailed 53-45 by the first media timeout at the 15:52 mark. From there, Gannon's lead increased to double-digits as the Golden Knights used a 9-1 run for a 53-46 cushion. It got worse for Bowie State because Gannon kept their foot on the gas, pushing its lead to a game-high 22 points (75-54) with just over six minutes remaining in the game.
Gannon's Golden Knights had the hot shooting hand, making 53.1 percent from the field in the first half (17-of-32), 50 percent in the second half (12-of-24) which translates into 51.8 percent for the entire night. Gannon's field goal shooting included 50 percent behind the 3-point line on 5-of-10 beyond the arc. Free throw shooting was also a plus for the home team, converting 18-of-24 at the free throw line (75 percent).
Leading the Bulldogs limited offense were senior
Michael Briscoe (Waldorf, Md.) and Wilson with 11 points apiece. Senior
Brian Kelley (Lanham, Md.) chipped in 10 points off the bench while junior
Omari George (Baltimore, Md.) also came off the bench to lead the team in rebounds with five.
As a team, Bowie State had its second worse field goal shooting percentage game of the year, making only 37 percent on 20-of-54 shooting and included just 5-of-23 (21.7 percent) over the final 20 minutes.
The Bulldogs begin (CIAA) conference play on Sunday (12/11), hosting the Blue Bears of Livingstone College at 4 p.m. as part of a doubleheader with the women.
