RALEIGH, N.C. – The Bowie State men's basketball team dropped a 73-62 decision to the Bears of Shaw University Saturday afternoon inside C.C. Spaulding Gymnasium in Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) division action. The setback is the Bulldogs (5-12, 3-3 CIAA) first division loss on the year on the year while the Bears (7-5, 3-3 CIAA) sit atop in the North at 3-0.

Graduate senior Kobby Ayetey (Accra, Ghana) led the Bulldogs in scoring with 14 points and six rebounds while sophomore David McCullough (Bowie, MD) chipped in 12 points to round out the double figure scoring for Bowie State.

The Bulldogs fell behind by double digits in the first 10 minutes of the contest when the Bears hit a pair of free throws and from there, Bowie State had to fight from behind for the remainder of the contest as Shaw went on a 25-16 scoring run for 46-28 lead at halftime.

Trailing by as many as 22 points in the second half, the Bulldogs rattled off the Bears double digit surge with a 29-12 run to close the gap to three points capped off by a free throw from Ayetey with 3:10 left to play but Shaw hit 10-of-12 free throws in the last two minutes for a 12-2 run and win over Bowie State.

The Bulldogs shot 37-percent from the field (18-49), hitting just 3-of-20 shots from the 3-point line (15-percent) but was able to connect 23-of-27 free throws (85-percent) compared to Shaw who registered 45-percent in field goals (23-51), 41-percent from long distance (7-17) and 80-percent (20-25) from the charity stripe.

Bowie State will have a quick turnaround and will look ahead as the Bulldogs will face Saint Augustine's Sunday, Jan. 23 at 7 p.m. in Emery Gymnasium.

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