BOWIE, Md. – Bowie State men's basketball ended the No. 7 Virginia Union's conference win-streak at five games after stellar shooting performance in the second half, including back-to-back 3-pointers in the final two minutes in a 65-61 win over the Panthers in Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) division action Wednesday night in A.C. Jordan Arena.

The win improves Bowie State to 5-11 overall, 3-2 in the CIAA and 2-0 in the Northern Division while VUU (12-4) suffers their first loss on the year in conference play with a 5-1 mark and 1-1 record in the North.

The regionally-ranked Panthers only led for six minutes in the opening half but the Bulldogs clawed their way back to tie the game at nine-all before a free throw shot gave VUU a one-point edge. The lead changed four times until graduate senior Tyler Jones (Pleasantville, NJ) converted on a 3-point play the old fashion way that led to a 16-15 scoring advantage for the Bulldogs and a 32-31 squeeze at halftime.

Bowie State started the second half on a 10-3 run to extend their lead to 11 (43-32) with 15:11 left to play. From there, the Bulldogs maintained control of the half led by their defense, holding the Panthers to 10-of-27 (37-percent) shooting while converting 13-of-23 shots of their own for 56.5-percent from the field.

With under eight minutes remaining, VUU used a 11-4 spread to cut the Bulldogs lead to one point (55-54) but a jumper from graduate senior Kobby Ayetey (Accra, Ghana) ignited a mini run. However, that run was short-lived as the Panthers drilled a 3-pointer from Darius Hines that kept them within two (63-61) to Bowie State with 35 seconds left. The Bulldogs was able to hold on for the win after sophomore Anthony Carpenter (Reisterstown, MD) sunk two free throws on the way to the win.

BSU's top scorer was Jones with 16 points while Ayetey finished with 13 points and team-high six rebounds. Bowie State shot 50-percent (26-52) from the field, connecting 8-of-18 from long distance and 83-percent (5-6) from the charity stripe. While the Bulldogs had one of their best offensive games on the year, credit also goes to BSU's effort on the defensive end as they were able to limit a VUU team that averaged 75 points per game – a conference best to just 61 points on the night while out-rebounding the Panthers 31-30 on the glass.

Bowie State will return to action on Saturday, Jan. 22 when the Bulldogs make a trip to Raleigh, N.C. to face Shaw at 4 p.m. Following Saturday's tilt, BSU will take on Saint Augustine's in a makeup contest on Sunday, Jan. 23 at 7:30 p.m.

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