LINCOLN UNIVERSITY, Pa. – Bowie State men's basketball shrugged off a sluggish start and rallied for a 69-64 CIAA Northern Division road win at Lincoln (Pa.) on Saturday afternoon in the Manuel Rivero Hall.
 
Seniors Omari George (Baltimore, Md.) and Ahmaad Wilson (Baltimore, Md.) led four Bowie State players in double figures with 17 points each.  Senior Dayshawn Wells (Baltimore, Md.) and sophomore Cameron Hayes (Upper Marlboro, Md.) added 10 points apiece in the key divisional win.
 
After trailing Lincoln (Pa.) 18-9, Bowie State went on a 16-7 run to pull even at 25-all following a George layup at the 5:42 mark of the first half to quiet the raucous crowd.
 
Redshirt sophomore David Belle (Hyattsville, Md.) gave Bowie State its first lead of the afternoon at 34-33 with 1:18 left. Wilson made 2-of-3 free throws and the Bulldogs took a 36-33 lead into halftime. Bowie State overcame a slow start and ended the first 20 minutes of action with a field goal shooting percentage of 42.9 percent.
 
Lincoln (Pa.) shot the ball pretty good in the first half as well, hitting 43.3 percent (13-of-30) which included 5-of-10 behind the 3-point line. The Lions held a slim 20-18 advantage on the glass over the first 20 minutes.
 
Bowie State opened a 42-35 lead to start the second half and pushed their lead to 47-38 by the 14:38 mark following a 3-pointer by freshman Jacob Long (Washington, D.C.). The Bulldogs defense held the Lions to just one field goal in the first nine minutes of the second half.
 
Lincoln (Pa.) closed the margin to 53-50 following a 3-pointer by TreVaughn Wilkerson at the 8:09 mark.
 
Back-to-back trips to the free throw line by George resulted in a little breathing room for the Bulldogs at 56-50 with 7:05 to go. A layup by sophomore Saiquan Jamison (Upper Marlboro, Md.) gave Bowie State at 60-52 but Lincoln would not go away.
 
The Lions closed to within a field goal after a pair of free throws by Elijah Bush with 1:53 left in regulation.
 
Bowie State's Hayes answered on the other end with a 3-pointer only to see Bush duplicate with a triple of his own that set the score at 64-62.
 
Wilson knocked down a pair of free throws and Wells sealed the victory with a pair of free throws with 18.7 seconds remaining in the highly contested game.
 
Lincoln (Pa.) (8-9, 3-4 CIAA, 0-1 North) was paced by Gevon Arrington with a game-high 19 points while Bush and Sean James recorded 15 and 11 points respectively for the Lions.
 
Bowie State men's basketball will be idle until Saturday (January 20th) when they head south to face Virginia Union at 4 p.m. in Barco-Stevens Hall.