Bowie State Men's Basketball Tops Division I University of Hartford 66-63 in Exhibition Play

HARTFORD, Connecticut – Bowie State University men's basketball erased a 21-point halftime deficit and rallied to defeat Division I University of Hartford 66-63 in exhibition action.  PHOTOS (Courtesy of Steve McLaughlin)
 
"In the first half I thought the lack of our offensive prowess affected energy level and at halftime our guys made a great adjustment and decided play harder", said Bowie State's 7th year head coach Darrell Brooks.
 
Bowie State began their exhibition with a 7-2 run against Hartford before the Hawks responded with a 16-0 run over a period of eight minutes to take control of the first half. From there, the Hawks pushed the advantage to 36-15 by halftime.
 
However, the Bulldogs outscored the Hawks 51-27 in the final 20 minutes of action, shooting 17-for-35 from the field (48.6 percent) compared to 7-for-28 (25.0 percent for the Hawks.
 
Sophomore Omari George (Baltimore, Md.) led four Bulldog double figure scorers with a career-best 16 points to go along with eight rebounds, a game-high five steals and a pair of assists. Senior transfer Jordan Goodman (Riverdale, Md.) tallied 15 points and tied for game-high rebound honors with 13. Seniors Justin Beck (Ellicott City, Md.) and Julian Livingston (Bowie, Md.) recorded 13 and 10 points respectively in the win. Beck tied Goodman in rebounds with 13 on the evening.   
 
Hartford shot 29.3 percent from the field (17-for-58 overall) compared to 31.0 percent (22-for-71 overall) for Bowie State. The Bulldogs out-rebounded the Hawks 48-of-44, converted 15 Hawks' turnovers into 21 second chance points and held a 34-12 points in the paint advantage.
 
John Carroll led the Hawks with a double-double of 21 points and 10 rebounds while teammate Pancake Thomas added 17 points to go along with seven rebounds.
 
The Bulldogs open the regular season on Friday (November 13th) versus Pitt-Johnstown in the opening game of the S&T Regional Bank Atlantic Region Challenge hosted by Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Tip time is set for 5:15 pm.

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COURTESY BOWIE STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION