BOWIE, Md. – Senior Ahmaad Wilson (Baltimore, Md.) recorded a team-high 16 points and fellow senior Omari George (Baltimore, Md.) added 15 points, however Virginia State University men's basketball defeated Bowie State University 75-65 in a Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Northern Division contest Wednesday.
 
Senior Dayshawn Wells (Baltimore, Md.) chipped in 10 points in the Bowie State setback and George led all rebounders with seven to go along with three assists, a clock and one steal.
 
Bowie State held a brief 2-0 first half advantage over Virginia State before Waymond Wright (Raleigh, N.C.) put the first points on the Trojans side of the scoreboard at the 16:10 mark. From there, Virginia State used a 9-0 burst to open a 13-4 cushion with 13:11 left on the A.C. Jordan Arena scoreboard. The Trojans led by nine twice over the next three plus minutes only to see the Bulldogs narrow the gap to 20-18, capping off a 12-0 run.
 
Virginia State responded with a 15-3 run to close out the first half, capped off a Walter Williams three-pointer two seconds left to take a 35-21 advantage into the break.
 
A Cyonte Melvin (Hampton, Va.) 3-point play early in the second half sort of set the tone for what was to happen for Virginia State the remainder of the evening. Back-to-back three-pointers by the Trojans pushed its lead 49-33 with 10:33 left on the clock. VSU then knocked down back-to-back three-pointers again, extending their lead to 64-49 at the 3:48 mark.
 
The Bulldogs did narrow the deficit to eight twice over the final 8:16 but were not able to upend the division leading Trojans as they did in Ettrick back on January 27^th.
 
The Trojans ended the contest shooting 48 percent from the field (24-of-50), hitting 9-of-20 triples (45 percent) and shot 66.7 perfect from the free throw line (18-of-27).
 
Bowie State finished the night with a field goal shooting percentage of 33.9 (19-of-56), which included 5-of-18 (27.8 percent) beyond the arc and made 22-of-31 (71 percent) at the charity stripe. The Bulldogs did win the battle on the glass, out-rebounding the Trojans 38-33.
 
The Virginia State Trojans (22-3, 12-3 CIAA, 8-1 North) was paced by Phillip Owens (Virginia Beach, Va.) with 16 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the floor (all 3-pointers). Joining Owens in double figure scoring were Melvin with 13 points, Williams with 12 points and William Vedder (Washington, D.C.) came off the VSU bench to chip in 11 points.
 
Bowie State University men's basketball conclude the regular season portion of its schedule on Saturday (February 24^th), playing host to Elizabeth City State University on Senior Day at 4 p.m.