BOWIE, Md. - Junior Cameron Hayes came off the Bowie State University bench to record a personal season-high 24 points but it wasn't enough as the Bulldogs drop a 74-61 home decision to Kutztown (Pa.) University in non-conference play on Wednesday afternoon. The loss, Bowie State's second straight sets the Bulldogs overall mark at 5-8 while Kutztown improves to 8-6 overall.
 
"I feel we didn't play with a collective heart", said a disappointed Bowie State Head Coach Darrell Brooks. "We did not do a good job in our man-to-man defense and made too many mistakes and made bad decisions."
 
Junior Yohance Fleming was the only other Bowie State player to score in double figures, adding 14 points to go along with five rebounds and a pair of assists. Juniors David Belle and Saiquan Jamison chipped in eight and five points respectively and junior Juwan Smith was responsible for four points and a team-high four assists. Jamison was the game's leading rebounder with 11.
 
The Bulldogs jumped out to 4-0 lead to start the game but surrendered the lead at the 16:31 mark on jumper by Kutztown's Ricky Hicks, giving the Golden Bears 7-6 advantage. Bowie State was able to keep pace with the visitors until Kutztown went on a 16-5 run to take a double-digit lead (24-13) by the 5:18 mark.
 
Bowie State responded with a 14-4 run to close the gap to one but went into halftime trailing 32-30.
 
Bowie State opened the second half with an 8-2 burst to take a 38-34 lead but like the first half, Kutztown answered with a 16-2 run to regain the lead for good at 50-40.
 
Not to be outdone, Bowie State put together another run (15-8) to close the Bulldogs deficit to 58-55 by the 6:29 mark of the second half but would get no closer. Hayes was mainly responsible for the run, knocking down a trio of 3-pointers.
 
The Golden Bears closed the game with a 16-6 run to account for the final margin of 74-61. Leading the Kutztown attack was Josh Townsend with a game-high 32 points on 10-of-19 shooting from the floor, 8-of-8 at the free throw line, seven rebounds and three assists. Hicks ranked second on the team in scoring with 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field and a team-high eight rebounds from his guard position.
 
Bowie State returns to conference play Saturday (January 5), hosting Johnson C. Smith at 4 p.m. in the A.C. Jordan Arena as part of a doubleheader with the women.