BOWIE, Md. – Meeting for the very first time did not fare well for Bowie State men's basketball against new conference member Claflin on Monday night as the Panthers edge the Bulldogs 69-65 in the A.C. Jordan Arena.
 
Bowie State, now 5-7 overall and 1-1 in league play, was led by Cameron Hayes with a game-high 19 points and Saiquan Jamison recorded a double-double for the second consecutive night of competition, this time for 12 points and 12 rebounds. Yohance Fleming fell just shy of a double-double, contributing 10 points and nine rebounds in the Bulldogs setback. 
 
"What a difference a day makes" were the first words out of Bowie State's Head Coach Darrell Brooks' mouth following the contest. "Mentally we didn't react to their changing defenses and we were never aggressive offensively but give them credit for doing what they had to do to get the win".
 
Cornellius Reynolds posted a double-double of 13 points and 13 rebounds. Jaimik Moore shared team-high in the offensive department along with Reynolds at 13 points followed by Triston Thompson, who contributed 11 points while Danny Brown added eight for the victorious Panthers.
 
In the first six minutes of the opening half it was all Bowie State, as the Bulldogs led 10-4 at the 14:01 mark.
 
The Panthers managed to cut the deficit to one, 12-11, at the 10:55 mark. That would be Bowie State last lead of the game as Claflin's Moore converted a three-point play to put the Panthers on top at 14-12 with 10:16 showing on the game clock.  The Panthers put together a 7-2 run over a 4-plus minute span to give Claflin led 21-14 at the 5:10 mark of the first half.
 
After going point-for-point over the next eight points, Bowie State outscored Claflin over the final three-plus minutes to cut the lead at 27-24 with just under one-minute remaining in the half and sent the visiting Panthers carried the 27-24 lead into intermission.
 
In the second half, Claflin took its biggest lead of the game at 48-37 with 12:21 left in the game on a pair of free throws by Brown.
 
The double-digit lead lasted for two minutes until Keith Duffin, Jr. sank two free-throws for Bowie State, to cut the lead to eight (49-41) with 10:21 left in the contest.
 
Bowie State remained within striking distance over the next five minutes and trailed 58-53 with 4:37 showing on the A.C. Jordan Arena scoreboard.
 
The Bulldogs continued to cut into the Claflin lead, closing to within three, 61-58, on Hayes' three-pointer with 2:29 remaining in the contest.  That would be the closest Bowie State would get as Claflin outscored the Bulldog 8-7 down the stretch.
 
Claflin outscored Bowie State 42-41 over the final 20 minutes, shooting 52 percent (15-of-29) from the field and 39 percent (24-of-61) for the game. The Panthers were 10-of-14 from the free throw line in the half and 16-of-23 for the game.
 
Bowie State had two less field goals in the second half then Claflin at 13-of-26 (50 percent) and 21-of-51 (41 percent) for the game. In the free throw area, the Bulldogs connected on 20-of-29 during the game.
 
Bowie State will break for the holiday break before hosting Kutztown in the teams' final non-conference game on Wednesday (January 2nd) at 3 p.m.