BOWIE, Md. – Senior Dayshawn Wells (Baltimore, Md.) scored a team-high 20 points but it wasn't enough as West Chester University defeated Bowie State 84-85 on Monday evening in BSU's A.C. Jordan Arena. The win keeps the Golden Rams unbeaten at 9-0 while the Bulldogs dip to 5-6 in its final non-conference game of the regular season.
 
Sophomore Cameron Hayes (Upper Marlboro, Md.) tallied a personal season-best of 18 points to go along with five rebounds. Senior Ahmaad Wilson (Baltimore, Md.) contributed 15 points and grabbed a team and personal season-high seven rebounds to go along with a team-high four rebounds. Senior Omari George (Baltimore, Md.) completed Bowie State's double figure scorers with 11 points.
 
Freshman Jacob Long (Washington, D.C.) and redshirt sophomore David Belle (Hyattsville, Md.) chipped in eight and seven points respectively for Bowie State. Sophomore Saiquan Jamison (Upper Marlboro, Md.) managed just three points but added five rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block. Freshman Keith Duffin, Jr. (Fort Meade, Md.) and senior Tai Marshall (Atlantic City, N.J.) rounded out the Bulldogs' scorers with two points and one point respectively in the loss.  
 
With the score knotted at 23-23 early in the first half, the Golden Rams strung together five-unanswered points to take the slim 28-23 advantage at the 7:56 mark. West Chester began to slowly add on to its lead over the next few minutes until a made free throw by Evan Longino (Furlong, Pa.) gave the visitors their largest lead of the first half at 37-27 with just over four to play. With the Bulldogs closing, Jawan Collins (Yeadon, Pa.) stepped up and hit a huge three-pointer to put the Golden Rams back on top by eight (47-29) with 1:44 remaining in the opening stanza. The first half ended with a jumper by Bowie State's Hayes to bring the score after the first 20 minutes to 47-41 in favor of West Chester.
 
Despite the deficit, the Bulldogs managed to keep the game within reach to start the second half – eventually trimming West Chester's lead to just four (60-56) with 12:52 to play. The home team hacked the deficit to as little as three points on four occasions down the stretch, until back-to-back free throws by BSU's Jamison would bring Bowie State to just a single bucket (78-76) with 4:18 to play. The visitors were able to combat the charging Bulldogs over the waning minutes of the stanza and eventually put the game away thanks to the brilliant play of Tyrell Long (Philadelphia, Pa.) and clutch free throws down the stretch by Matt Penecale (Jenkintown, Pa.).
 
Long led all scorers with 22 points, while also collecting a team-high three blocked shots. Penecale added 19 points and a game-high eight assists in the win and Longino was responsible for 15 points. Frank Rokins (Plainfield, N.J.) accounted for a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds.
 
The Bowie State Bulldogs begin conference play on Saturday (December 16th), making its first stop of a two-game Southern Division swing at Johnson C. Smith University. The Bulldogs and Golden Bulls will get underway at 4 p.m. in JCSU's Brayboy Gymnasium.