SALISBURY, N.C. – Three Bulldogs scored in double figures but the Bowie State men's basketball team lost to Livingstone College, 74-61 in a Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) cross division matchup Thursday night at New Trent Gymnasium.
Junior Quinton Drayton (Bowie, MD) and sophomore Khalil Williams (Annapolis, MD) both recorded a team-high 12 points and combined for seven rebounds while graduate senior Tyler Jones (Pleasantville, NJ) chipped in 10 points and team-best seven rebounds.
Bowie State jumped out to a 15-12 lead just before the first media timeout at 12:54 mark. LC managed to tie and take the lead after scoring seven-straight to go ahead 19-15. The Bulldogs fell behind by as many as 15 points (36-21) when the Blue Bears went on a 16-6 run before Bowie State scored the last three points to close the deficit to 12 points, trailing behind LC 36-24 at halftime.
Nearly three minutes into the second half, LC outscored BSU 6-1 to take their largest lead of the game at 17 points (42-25) before the Bulldogs cut their lead to single digits on a 9-0 run led by senior Justin Route (Washington, D.C.) who scored four points in that run with 13:44 left to play.
The Blue Bears then scored back-to-back baskets to push its lead back to double digits before Malik Smith gave LC a 48-34 advantage with 11:46 on the game clock. The Bulldogs had not scored in over two minutes until Williams went up for contested two, snapping the scoring drought for Bowie State. BSU pulled within 10 points on two different occasions with the last being under a minute remaining when Jones hit a 3-pointer but LC hit four-straight free throws to pull away for the win over Bowie State.
The setback puts Bowie State at 3-11 overall and 1-2 while Livingstone improve to 5-5 on the year and 2-2 in league action.
The Bulldogs will take on Lincoln (PA) on Saturday, Jan. 15 for their CIAA division opener slated for 4 p.m. from A.C. Jordan Arena.
For the most up-to-date information on Bowie State University Athletics and its 13 varsity sports teams, please visit www.bsubulldogs.com.
