BOWIE, Md. – The visiting Fairmont State University Falcons shot a blistering 65 percent behind the 3-point line and parlayed that into a 75-73 non-conference victory over the Bowie State University Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon. The loss sets the Bulldogs record at 3-5 overall while the Falcons improve to 4-1 on the year.
 
"We didn't defend, and they shot the ball extremely well … That's the story of the game", said Bowie State head coach Darrell Brooks. "We turned them over and that's the only reason why it was close, and we did guard especially at the 3-pont line".
 
Seniors David Belle (Hyattsville, Md.) and Cameron Hayes (Upper Marlboro, Md.) led Bowie State with 22 and 10 points respectively while fellow senior Saiquan Jamison (Upper Marlboro, Md.) ripped down a game-high 13 rebounds and added nine points.
 
Fairmont State shot the ball well in the first half of play, making 15-of-25 field goals (60 percent) compared to 47 percent (15-of-32) for Bowie State. The visiting Falcons knocked down 7-of-9 triples over the first 20 minutes but trailed 39-38 at halftime.
 
Fairmont State's Kenzie Melko opened the second half with a 3-pointer to shift the advantage over to the Falcons and they never gave up the lead again.  The Falcons lead grew to a game-high nine points (58-49) by the 12:44 mark and Fairmont State would not allow Bowie State closer than five over the next 11 plus minutes.
 
Bowie State did close the deficit to three (74-71) with 26 seconds left in the contest on driving layup by senior Juwan Smith (Lexington Park, Md.) and a Belle layup with 3.3 seconds cut the margin to the final score of 75-73.
 
Fairmont State made 13-of-22 shots from the field in the second half (59 percent), which included 4-of-8 beyond the arc. Overall, the Falcons made 28-of-47 field goals (60 percent), 11-of-17 behind the 3-point line (65 percent) and 8-of-13 free throws (62 percent).
 
On the bottom half of the stat sheet, Bowie State shot 38 percent (28-of-73) from the field, 4-of-19 (21 percent) beyond the 3-point line and 13-of-19 (68 percent) at the charity stripe.
 
Bowie State finished the game with a 41-28 advantage on the glass, including a 25-6 edge on the offensive boards.
 
The game featured six ties and four lead changes, and neither team had a double-digit lead in the game.
 
Bowie State will hit the road for its next two contest, both conference games, facing Saint Augustine's University (12/5) at 6 p.m. at Shaw University (12/7) at 4 p.m.