BOWIE, Md. – Freshman Dayshawn Wells stroked three consecutive free throws with 3.3 seconds remaining in the game to lift Bowie State to a huge 66-65 win over Lincoln.
The win improves Bowie State’s season mark to 14-5 (6-1 CIAA, 1-0 North) while Lincoln moves to 11-6 overall (5-2 CIAA, 0-1 North).
“We told our guys before the game, these games are usually ugly and tonight was no exception”, said Bowie State head coach Darrell Brooks. We didn’t do a good job keeping them off the glass and we did a so-so job at keeping them out of the paint.”
Senior Cameron Knox (Baltimore, Md.) led both teams in scoring with 21 points and junior Justin Beck (Elliicott City, Md.) chipped in 10 points for the victorious Bulldogs.
Chaz Sharpe (Baltimore, Md.) came of the Lions bench to lead his team with 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting, which included 3-of-6 behind the 3-point line.
Tony Efese (Spring Valley, N.Y.) added a double-double of 12 points and a game-high 13 rebounds while Rasheen Dorn (Philadelphia, Pa.) tallied 11 points in the loss.
Lincoln took a 35-32 advantage into halftime while shooting 46.2 percent (12-of-26) from the field, which included 4-of-5 (80 percent) behind the arc.
First half free throws were to the Lions advantage in the first 20 minutes, as the visitors converted 7-of-8 (87.5 percent).
The Bulldogs made 11-of-26 first half field goals (42.3 percent), 5-of-11 behind the arc (45.5 percent) and 62.5 percent (5-of-8) at the charity stripe.
With the game tied at 37-all at the 18:31 mark of the second half and following a 3-pointer by Bowie State’s Beck, the Bulldogs went without a field goal for the next nine minutes.
During that stretch, Lincoln opened their largest lead of the game at 48-39 with 14:03 left in the final period.
The Bulldogs clawed their way back to pull within three (50-47) on a Julius Livingston triple at the 9:13 mark.
Ten seconds later, a twisting layup by Bowie State redshirt junior Miles Jackson (Silver Spring, Md.) cut the Lions lead down to one at 50-49.
Bowie State reclaimed the lead 51-50 at the 8:10 mark on a Beck layup. Efese put the Lions back ahead 54-53 with a three-pointer from the right side with under 7-minutes to play.
The Lions next big play came from Sharpe when he made his third three-pointer of the game extending the Lions lead to 61-56 with 3:42.
The Bulldogs remained within striking distance of the Lions but trailed by five after an Efese layup with 1:46 left on the clock. With 1:11 left in regulation, Bowie State made 5-of-6 attempts from the free-throw line erasing the Bulldogs deficit and take the lead with 3.3 seconds left.
Wells was fouled on a three-point attempt and calmly made all three freebies, giving the Bulldogs a 66-65 lead.
Lincoln’s Kyle Aiken (Randolph, N.J.) stepped out of bounds bringing the ball up the court, turning the ball over to the Bulldogs with four tenths of a second remaining in the game to seal the win for Bowie State.
The Lions held advantages in rebounds (40-30), points in the paint (26-18) and bench points (29-25).
“The game was at their pace, but we just figured out a way to win … Our motto has been, “Let’s go 1-0 today and just worry about the 40 minutes in front of us”, stated Brooks.
Bowie State Sports Information
