SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. – Senior Omari George (Baltimore, Md.) scored a team-high 16 points, helping Bowie State earn a 79-71 season opening win against Shepherd on Friday night to close out day one of the Clarion Hotels Challenge.
 
In addition to George, senior Ahmaad Wilson (Baltimore, Md.) added 14 points while fellow senior Dayshawn Wells (Baltimore, Md.) and freshman Keith Duffin (Fort Meade, Md.) chipped in 13 points apiece in the win. Redshirt sophomore David Belle (Hyattsville, Md.) rounded out the Bulldogs' double figure scorers with 10. Sophomore Saiquan Jamison (Upper Marlboro, Md.) tied for game-high rebound honors with 10 and added four points.
 
AJ Carr recorded a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds to pace the Shepherd Rams. Steffan Davis along with Winston Burgess scored 12 points each while Derek McKnight contributed 11 points in the loss.
 
Bowie State's Bulldogs led all but 42 seconds of the contest when it trailed Shepherd's Rams 5-4 and 8-7. There were four lead changes in the game with all coming early as well.
 
The Bulldogs held its first double-digit lead at 25-14 at the 12:25 mark of the first half following a Duffin 3-pointer. The Bowie State lead grew to 18 points in the first 20 minutes of action after Wilson drilled a triple to give the Bulldogs a 34-16 advantage.
 
However, Shepherd (0-1) trimmed the deficit in half by halftime, trailing Bowie State 46-37 at intermission. Shepherd struggle from the field in the first half, hitting 11-of-28 (39.3 percent) compared to Bowie State's 51.5 percent field goal shooting (17-of-33).
 
The Rams kept the Bulldogs relatively close in the second half until Bowie State pushed the lead back to double digits at 60-50 after a Duffin layup at the 12:02 mark. Bowie State last double-digit lead of 67-57 came on a pair of George free throws.
 
Shepherd put together a 6-0 run to pull within two at 69-63 following a big dunk by Winston with 5:08 left in the game, but would get no closer. The Rams finished the game shooting 39.3 percent from the field (22-of-56), which included 7-of-21 (33.3 percent) behind the 3-point line and made 20-of-25 (80 percent) free throws.
 
Bowie State (1-0) ended the evening with a 46 percent field goal shooting percentage (29-of-63), connected on 7-of-18 shots behind the arc (38.9 percent) and made 14-of-18 free throws (77.8 percent. The Bulldogs outscored the Rams 32-20 in the paint and outrebounded their opponent 39-37.
 
The Bulldogs return to action on Saturday (11/11) afternoon at 4 p.m. against the Wheeling Jesuit University Cardinals. Wheeling Jesuit defeated Gannon 81-74 in overtime in game one of the Clarion Hotel Conference Challenge.