SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV – The Bowie State men's basketball team dropped the season opener against Mercyhurst, 96-56, at the Butcher Athletic Center during the opening day of the Dave Russell Conference Challenge Friday night.

After a slow start offensively, Bowie State fell behind early to the Lakers who shot 57-percent from the field, including nailing five 3-pointers to take a 48-17 lead at halftime. The Bulldogs went 6-of-26 from the field and 0-7 from behind the arc while committing 11 turnovers in the opening half.

BSU would work at Mercyhurst's lead in the second half, whittling the deficit down to 34 points but the Lakers used an 11-5 spurt to boost its lead to 40 before leading by as many as 47 after two good free throws with under six minutes remaining as the Bulldogs got outscored 48-39 in the half.

Both graduate senior Tyler Jones (Pleasantville, NJ) and redshirt sophomore David McCollough (Bowie, MD) came off the bench to lead Bowie State in scoring with 14 and 10 points and three rebounds, apiece, respectively.

Bowie State will return to action Saturday, Nov. 13 with a match against Shepherd at 6:30 p.m. to conclude the conference challenge.

For the most up-to-date information on Bowie State University Athletics and its 13 varsity sports teams, please visit www.bsubulldogs.com.