MURFREESBORO, N.C. – Bowie State men's basketball suffered a tough 59-58 setback to the hands of Chowan University on Saturday afternoon. The loss, Bowie State's third in a row, sets the teams record at 7-12 overall, 4-5 in the CIAA and 0-3 in the division.
 
Bowie State's Bulldogs were led by juniors Ahmaad Wilson and Dayshawn Wells, both of Baltimore, Md., with 14 and 12 points respectively. Senior Enuoma Ebinum (Greenbelt, Md.) tallied nine points and six rebounds and fellow senior Michael Briscoe (Waldorf, Md.) contributed six points and tied for team high-assist honors with three.
 
The first half featured four ties and seven lead changes and the Bulldogs held a 28-26 advantage at halftime and shot 11-of-26 (42.3 percent) from the field, which included 3-of-10 beyond the arc.
 
Bowie State's largest lead of the game (16-10) occurred at the 10:59 mark of the first half following a traditional three-point play by junior Omari George (Baltimore, Md.), capping off a 5-0 Bulldogs run.
 
Chowan responded with a 7-0 burst to regain the lead at 17-16 a little of three minutes later. The lead would change three times over the final 7:12 with Bowie State's Wells drilling a triple with 1:42 to go in the opening half to account for the halftime score.
 
The Bulldogs maintained a lead early in the second half until a Jeremy Smith jumper tied the score at 34-all at the 14:47 mark. The teams basically traded baskets until an Ebinum dunk gave Bowie State a 39-38 lead. From there, Bowie State held the advantage until back-to-back buckets by Chowan's Smith created the eighth and ninth ties of the game with the last coming (56-56) with 1:47 remaining on the Helms Center scoreboard.
 
Smith closed the Hawks scoring with four consecutive free throws but the Bulldogs still had chance trailing 59-56.
 
Bowie State senior Brian Kelley (Lanham, Md.) pulled the Bulldogs within one at 59-58 following a pair of free throws with 8.7 seconds to go. The Bulldogs managed to steal the ball from the Hawks on the throw but were unable to get off a successful shot before time expired.
 
Smith led the Hawks with 23 points and also got double figure help from Kevin Kuteyi and Joe Goodwin with 12 and 11 points respectively. Goodwin and Smith hauled down eight and six rebounds respectively for Chowan (11-5, 5-3 CIAA, 2-1 North).
 
The Bulldogs will have a small break from competition before hosting the defending CIAA Champions of Virginia State on Wednesday (January 25th) in the A.C. Jordan Arena. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m.