ETTRICK, Va. – The division leading Trojans of Virginia State showed why they are at the top of the CIAA Northern Division after a resounding 93-69 Senior Night rout of the Bulldogs of Bowie State on Wednesday night in VSU's Multipurpose Center.
Junior
Cameron Hayes led the Bulldogs in scoring with 20 points while
David Belle and
Saiquan Jamison contributed 15 and 11 points respectively. Jamison just missed a double-double, pulling down a game-high nine rebounds. Junior
Rinardo Perry also scored in double figures, finishing the contest with 10 points.
Virginia State (23-4, 15-1 CIAA, 8-1 North) held an 8-5 advantage by the first media timeout (15:34) and came out of the break with a 7-2 run before a pair of free throws by junior
Juwan Smith ended the Bowie State drought.
The VSU Trojans started reigning triples and extended its lead to 23-11 by the 11:47 mark of the opening half. At this point, Virginia State was shooting 60 percent from the field on 9-of-15 shooting compared to 27 percent shooting (4-of-15) for Bowie State's Bulldogs. Virginia State's lead grew to 35-18 by the under-8 media timeout.
Virginia State kept the foot on the gas for the remainder of the first half and strolled into intermission with a 53-29 cushion. Over the first 20 minutes, the Trojans field goal percentage steadily climbed from 44 percent to 60 percent by the midway point of the first half, to 63 percent and dropped slightly to 59 percent by halftime.
Bowie State (16-11, 12-4 CIAA, 6-3 North) made a bit of run to begin the second half, but Virginia State built its largest lead at 66-38 by the 13:25 mark.
Virginia State's field goal shooting percentage dropped in the second half, but fortunately the Bowie State field goal shooting percentage improved. By the 7:36 media timeout, VSU was shooting 24 percent from the field while BSU made 60 percent of its second half field goals.
Jahmere Howze and Brandon Holley led the Trojans offensively with 23 and 18 points respectively. The Trojans ended the night hitting 49 percent of its shots (31-of-64) and 74 percent at the free throw line (23-of-31). Virginia State also controlled the glass, outrebounding Bowie State 39-30.
Bowie State finished the contest shooting 37 percent from the field (22-of-60) and 72 percent at the charity stripe (21-of-29).
The Bulldogs will conclude the regular season portion of its schedule at Elizabeth City State on Saturday (February 23) with tip time set for 4 p.m. in the R.L. Vaughan Center.
