BOWIE, Md. - Virginia State University came into Bowie State's A.C. Jordan Arena on Wednesday evening on a 13-game winning streak and kept its streak alive, cruising past the Bulldogs 84-67. The loss puts the Bulldogs record at 12-10 overall, 8-3 in the league and 2-2 in the division.
 
"Sometimes you're the dog and sometimes you're the tree", stated Bowie State Head Coach Darrell Brooks. "Virginia State is a good experienced team and a really physical and tough team. We made our runs and every time we made a run and took a lead, they came right back, executed and did what they needed to do to win the game … I just hope our young team takes some pointers from this game and play another important game on Saturday."
 
The Bulldogs were led by redshirt junior David Belle with a team-high 18 points and junior Saiquan Jamison with a double-double of 11 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks. Junior Cameron Hayes added 16 points in just his fifth start of the season.
 
As a team, Bowie State outrebounded Virginia State 36-31 and shot 40 percent from the field (24-of-59), which included 3 of-19 (16 percent) beyond the arc and 16-of-23 (70 percent) at the charity stripe.
 
Jahmere Howze paced Virginia State (18-3, 10- CIAA, 4-0 North) with a game-high 22 points (14-of-16 at the free throw line) while Cedric Wiggins along with Cyonte Melvin contributed 14 and 12 points respectively. The Trojans finished the night shooting 50 percent from the field (25-of-50) and 79 percent (26-of-33) at the free throw line. VSU also outscored the BSU 28-22 in the paint and the Trojans bench outscored the Bulldogs bench 31-12.
 
The visiting Trojans of Virginia State led the majority of the game (34:43) and carried a 10-point cushion (42-32) into halftime. Virginia State went to the paint early and often in the first half, scoring 12 of its 42 points there. The Trojans had the hot hand shooting, knocking down 54.2 percent (13-of-24) of their shots over the opening 20 minutes. During one stretch, VSU hit five out of nine shots from the three-point line.
 
The two teams swapped buckets early in the second half, with the Trojans keeping a small lead. However, Bowie State started to gain some momentum cutting the Trojans lead (42-40) on a dunk by David Belle. The Bulldogs continued to fight tying the game 45-all at the 14:55 mark but the Trojans continued to put up points taking a 54-49 lead with 10:09 left in the contest.
 
A 3-pointer by Bowie State's Hayes capped off a 7-0 run and closed the Bulldogs within two at 56-54. However, Virginia State went on a 25-5 run to erase any doubt about what the outcome would be, taking its largest lead of the contest (81-59) at the 2:17 mark.
 
Bowie State will look to rebound on Saturday (2/1) when they host the Elizabeth City State Vikings at 4 p.m.