BOWIE, Md. – The Bowie State men's basketball team (0-3) hung close with nationally-ranked Indiana University of Pennsylvania (4-0) but couldn't pull off the victory as the Bulldogs were fended off from a upset, 90-83 Friday night inside A.C. Jordan Arena.
In the first half, the Bulldogs were able to erase an early 15-3 deficit with a 13-6 scoring spread to close the gap to five midway through the half but the Crimson Hawks groomed a 16-point lead ignited by three back-to-back 3-pointers in a 13-3 frame with 5:19 left.
 
The Bulldogs managed to rattle off the double digit deficit on a pair of 3-pointers from redshirt sophomore Joshua Cornish (Baltimore, MD) and graduate senior Godlyvictor Okafor (Greenbelt, MD) as well as a few points in the paint which led to BSU trailing IUP 38-36 at the break.
 
Bowie State took their first lead of the game on a jumper from sophomore Ayan Teel (Bowie, MD) as the next two minutes would feature a couple of lead changes and a tie at 49-even until IUP scored a layup that eventually led to a 27-10 spread – giving the Crimson Hawks its biggest lead of the half at the 8:44 mark. Despite trailing, the Bulldogs never showed defeat down the stretch, closing the gap to single digits but BSU came up just seven points shy.
 
Junior Quinton Drayton (Bowie, MD) led the way for BSU with 19 points, while both Teel and Cornish turned in 12 points apiece. Redshirt sophomore David McCollough (Bowie, MD) and graduate senior Tyler Jones (Pleasantville, NJ) would round out the double figure scoring for the Bulldogs with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
 
For the game, IUP shot 51.6-percent from the field, hitting 8-of-16 from long distance and nailing 16-of-22 free throws while BSU made 31 of their 64 shots (48-percent), 12-for-26 from the 3-point line (46-percent) and 9-14 (64-percent) from the charity stripe.
 
Bowie State will return to action on Sunday, Nov. 20 at Wilmington (DE) for a 4 p.m. tip-off.
 
For the most up-to-date information on Bowie State University Athletics and its 13 varsity sports teams, please visit www.bsubulldogs.com.