BOWIE, Md. – It wasn't pretty, but Bowie State University did just enough to claim a 64-59 win over visiting Saint Augustine's University in the A.C. Jordan Arena on Monday (1/20) evening. The win sets Bowie State's season record at 12-8 and 4-2 in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA).  PHOTOS (Courtesy of Lawrence Johnson)
 
Senior Cameron Hayes (Upper Marlboro, Md.) came off the bench to provide a team-high 15 points to lead Bowie State. Senior David Belle (Hyattsville, Md.) added 13 points while Juwan Smith (Lexington Park, Md.) along with Kani Coles (Baltimore, Md.) contributed 12 and 10 points respectively in the victory.
 
Saint Augustine's (5-11 / 0-6 CIAA) was led by Jalen Gaddy (Raleigh, N.C.) with a game-high 16 points followed by Nilous Hodge (Charlotte, N.C.) and Aaron Johnson-Cash (San Francisco, Calif.) with 13 and 11 points respectively. Hodge and Johnson-Cash also pulled down double digit rebounds with 10 apiece.
 
Miguel Brown scored the games' first points of the game for Saint Augustine's, but Bowie State answered with a 13-2 run to take a 13-4 advantage by the 15:50 mark of the first half. Bowie State maintained its lead over the next six minutes before Saint Augustine's trim the deficit to 20-18 by the 9:07 mark. BSU's lead grew to a game-high 16 (35-19) at the 4:53 mark only to have the Falcons close the first half with a 12-5 run and trailed the Bulldogs 36-31 at halftime.
 
Saint Augustine's used a 7-4 run to start the second half and took its second lead since 2-0 at 41-40 on a Hodge 3-pointer. The lead would change hands four times over a span of three minutes until a thunderous dunk by Bowie State senior Saiquan Jamison knotted the score at 46-all.  
 
Jamison shifted the advantage back over to Bowie State a short time later and a Smith jumper gave the Bulldogs a little breathing room at 50-46 with 8:41 to go in the contest.
 
However, the Falcons would not go away as a Karaan Clemons layup followed by a ferocious dunk by Johnson-Cash knotted the score at 50-all just over a minute later.
 
The Bulldogs scored the next three points as Coles knocked down a pair of free throws and Belle made 1-of-2 free throws to Bowie State on top at 53-50.
 
Saint Augustine's Johnson-Cash trimmed the Bowie State lead to 53-52 with 3:36 remaining in the game but that's as close as the Falcons would get for the rest of the game.
 
Bowie State will be idle until returning to action on Saturday (January 25) in a pivotal conference clash on the road at Lincoln (Pa.). Game time is 4 p.m. in Manuel Rivero Hall.