BOWIE, Md. – In a tale of two halves, Bowie State University men's basketball trailed by 19 points and fell just short in overtime, losing 75-73 to Virginia State University in front of an overflow crowd inside the A.C. Jordan Arena on Wednesday night. The loss drops Bowie State's record to 15-12 overall, 8-7 in the CIAA and 4-5 in the Northern Division.
 
Junior Michael Briscoe (Waldorf, Md.) led four Bulldogs in double figures with a game-high 17 points. Senior Andre Jackson (Baltimore, Md.) added 12 points while sophomore Omari George (Baltimore, Md.) chipped in 11 points. Senior Julian Livingston (Bowie, Md.) rounded out BSU's double figure scorers with 10 points.
 
Kevin Williams (Franklinton, N.C.) paced Virginia State's Trojans with 15 points and Javon Moore (Fairfax, Va.) chipped in 13 points. Elijah Moore (Yorktown, Va.) added a double-double of 11 points and a game-high 10 rebounds in the victory.
 
Virginia State (19-5, 13-2 CIAA, 7-2 CIAA) was able to hold the Bulldogs down for majority of the second half, until Bowie State erased a 19 point deficit (50-31) beginning at the 13:49 mark of regulation. From that point, the Bowie State Bulldogs used a 26-7 burst to pull within one at 57-56 following a Livingston 3 pointer at the 6:27 mark.
 
The Trojans were able to get a little breathing room at 66-60 after a Moore tip-in only to see the Bulldogs battle back with a another little run to close the gap to 68-67 following a conventional 3-point play by Briscoe.
 
Bowie State took their first lead of the night at 70-68 thanks to a 3-pointer by sophomore Dayshawn Wells (Baltimore, Md.) with 27 seconds left on the clock. The Bulldogs didn't box out well on the Trojans next possession and junior Enouma Ebinum (Greenbelt, Md.) was whistled for a foul sending VSU's Moore to the free throw line with 12 seconds remaining in regulation. Moore sank two free throws to tie the game at 70-all. The Bulldogs pushed the ball up the court and called a 30 second timeout with nine seconds but didn't get off a good shot, sending the game into overtime.
 
Bowie State's Briscoe began overtime with a jumper to give the Bulldogs a 72-70 advantage. A huge, top of the key 3-pointer by Virginia State's Melvin Gregory (Weems, Va.) followed by a pair of Tyler Peterson (Virginia Beach, Va.) free throws shifted the advantage over to the Trojans at 75-72 with 13 seconds left in the extra period.
 
Virginia State's Moore fouled a 3-point shooting Livingston, sending the senior to the free throw line for three free throws with five seconds to go. Livingston missed the first of three, made the second and intentionally missed the third leaving the Bulldogs trailing 75-73.
 
Bowie State was able to get a stop on the other end but Briscoe's 3-pointer just behind half court clanked off the rim.
 
The Bulldogs will wrap up the regular season on Saturday (February 20th), hosting the Vikings of Elizabeth City State University at 4 p.m. in a nationally televised contest.