BOWIE, Md. – Bowie State University men's basketball picked up its first win of the season on Friday (11/23) afternoon topping visiting Newberry College 68-56. The win stops a five-game slide and sets the Bulldogs record at 1-5 overall.
 
David Belle and Juwun Smith paced the Bulldogs with 14 and 11 points respectively and Saiquan Jamison pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds. Rinardo Perry added eight points while Keith Duffin, Jr. and Jamison chipped in seven points each.
 
As a team, Bowie State shot 46 percent from the field (23-of-50) and 62 percent (21-of-34) at the free throw line and the Bulldogs held a 43-31 advantage on the glass.
 
Newberry (1-4) was led by Angelo Sales with 17 points to go along with a team-best seven rebounds and Marshall Lange tallied 11 points for the Wolves in the loss. The Wolves connected on 20-of-56 field goals (36 percent) and connected on 14-of-20 (70 percent) at the charity stripe.
 
The first half featured six ties and four lead changes as Newberry went into halftime with a 27-26 advantage.
 
The Bulldogs regained the lead early in the second half on back-to-back buckets by Belle and Smith and stretched the lead to seven (36-29) at the 16:17 mark following a layup by Cameron Hayes.
 
However, Newberry's Wolves answered with a 7-0 run to regain the lead at 37-36 with 12:21 remaining in the contest.
 
A trio of layups by Belle, Jamison and Smith broke a 39-all ties and gave the Bulldogs just the momentum needed to give Bowie State cushion at 49-43 with 7:37 left in the game.
 
Newberry was able to respond to trim the deficit to 49-46 but Bowie State turned up the heat, outscoring the Wolves 9-1 over the next four minutes that resulted into a double digit lead for the Bulldogs at 58-47 and a lead that would not be relinquished.
 
The Bulldogs will have very little time to rest before returning to the hardwood on Sunday (November 25th) hosting Augusta (Ga.) University at 2 p.m. in BSU's A.C. Jordan Arena.