CHARLOTTE, NC- Bowie State handled the Chowan 87-64 on Thursday to advance to the CIAA semifinals.
Ahmaad Wilson led the Bulldogs with 13 points while Justin Beck and Omari George added 11 and 10 points, respectively. Cameron Knox, Andre Jackson and Julian Livingston each added nine points for the Bulldogs. Bowie State out-rebounded the Hawks 47-36 and shot 46 percent from the floor over the course of the game.
Bowie State head coach Darrell Brooks commented, “I’m proud of our team. We rebounded really well tonight and I think that was the key to this win.”
Kyree Bethel and Mark Anthony Buright each notched 13 points in the loss for Chowan. Kortez Smith and Jalen Marshall chipped in seven points, respectively. Chowan shot 34 percent from the floor in the loss.
Chowan head coach Brett Vincent added, “Obviously they played well. They have a great basketball team. Bowie State was good early and we had to fight uphill the rest of the way. They were the better team tonight.”
Bethel opened the contest with a three-pointer for the Hawks on Chowan’s first possession. Knox answered with a bucket at the 17:08 mark to put Bowie State on the board before Buright responded with a long-range three for the Chowan Blue and White.
Miles’ answered with a three-pointer for Bowie State to make the score 6-5 with 16:26 on the clock. Trailing 8-7 at the 15:44 mark, jumpers by Knox and Beck pushed the Bulldogs ahead 11-8 but Trevis Buckhanon’s dunk put the Hawks back within striking distance.
Justin Beck’s three-pointer followed by Zafir Williams’ layup gave the Bulldogs a 16-10 lead with 12:42 remaining in the first half.
Smith drained a three-pointer for the Blue and White to pull within three points midway through the first half. Wells tacked on two points using free throws to extend Bowie State’s lead 18-13 with 9:12 on the clock.
The Bulldogs held a 20-17 lead with 7:37 on the clock before Julian Livingston’s three-pointer pushed Bowie State head by six points and Jackson added two free throws to hand the Hawks a 25-17 deficit. Buright connected on two free throws with 6:08 on the clock but Jackson took advantage of two free throw opportunities to extend their lead to 27-19.
Bowie State held on to an eight point advantage until the 4:08 mark when Jalen Marshall completed a three-point play, allowing the Hawks to pull within five points. Back-to-back three pointers by the Bulldogs pushed Bowie State ahead 35-24 by the final media time out of the first half.
Carlos Arroyo netted two free throws for the Hawks but Bowie State responded with a 6-0 run to gain a fifteen point lead and their largest advantage of the half at 41-26.
Kyree Bethel drained a three-pointer with 1:22 on the clock but the Bulldogs held a commanding 41-29 advantage heading into the locker room at halftime. Bowie State shot 58 percent from the floor in the first half while holding the Hawks to a 38% shooting percentage.
Beck started off the second half with a bucket for Bowie State and contributed to a 4-0 run for the Bulldogs.
Jalen Marshall’s basket for the Hawks with 16:02 on the clock ended a four minute scoring drought for the Hawks. Arroyo hit a jumper for Chowan just after the first media time out of the half but a three-pointer by Julian Livingston followed by Jackson’s dunk pushed the Hawks ahead 50-33.
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