ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. – Bowie State men's hoops surrendered a pair of big first-half runs and could not slow down an Elizabeth City State shooting attack that finished the game 52.8-percent from the field as the Bulldogs suffered their seventh-straight loss, 68-55 in their regular season final Saturday afternoon at the R.L. Vaughan Center.

The Black and Gold (7-20, 5-11 CIAA) saw the Vikings (14-12, 7-9 CIAA) go on a 11-2 and 17-6 runs during the stretches of the first half after they opened the game by scoring 11 of the first 15 points. The biggest run for ECSU lasted for 7:45, ignited by five seven unanswered points – the Bulldogs had just six points within that timeframe and ended up trailing 34-16 at halftime.

Sophomore David McCullough (Bowie, MD) scored a season-high 25 points to lead a pair of Bulldogs with double digit scoring. McCullough was 10-of-14 from the field and 3-of-4 at the line to gather his third 20-point game this season. Sophomore Anthony Carpenter (Reisterstown, MD) added 11 points while McCullough also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.
 
After the Bulldogs fell behind 18 points following a jumper from the Vikings, they pulled as close as six points when McCullough hit a jumper to cut it to (60-44) with just a little over seven minutes remaining. The Vikings responded, though, with back-to-back buckets to make it double digit lead once again.
 
In the last 4:22 of action, ECSU used a 12-0 run to increase their lead to 19 points. Bowie State shaved off ECSU's spurt, though, by making back-to-back 3-pointers but time expired on McCullough's last trey ball.
 
Both sides shot over 50-percent in the second half, with the Bulldogs going 14-of-27 from the field. BSU finished the game shooting 44.4-percent (20-45).
 
Bowie State will now wait for the official tournament bracket to be released for the 2022 Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Basketball Tournament which will be held in Baltimore, Md., from Feb. 22-26 at the Royal Farms Arena. The Bulldogs are sixth in the North at 3-7 overall.

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