CHARLOTTE, North Carolina -- Bowie State University earned a hard-fought 73-71 overtime victory over Saint Augustine's University on Thursday afternoon in the quarterfinal round of the CIAA Tournament. The Bulldogs entered the contest as the No. 3 seed from the CIAA Northern Division while the Falcons were the No. 2 seed from the Southern Division.Darrell Brooks, Head Coach at Bowie State University noted, "I'm just really, really happy and blessed to be here. We were kind of dead in the water with two seconds left…but I thought we defended and played tough to get back in the game. "
Anthony Gaskins led all players in the contest with 28 points in the loss while Quincy January netted 20 points and hauled in a game-high 12 rebounds (three offensive, nine defensive) for the Falcons.
Bowie State senior Miles Jackson (Silver Spring, Md.) drained 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds (one offensive, seven defensive) while fellow senior Andre Jackson (Baltimore, Md.) and sophomore Ahmaad Wilson (Baltimore, Md.) added 13 points apiece. Junior Michael Briscoe (Waldorf, Md.) scored 10 points for the Bulldogs.
January opened the contest with back-to-back buckets and a free throw for the Falcons to give Saint Augustine's a quick 5-0 edge. A jumper by senior Justin Beck (Ellicott City, Md.) and a layup by Miles Jackson cut the Bulldogs' deficit to 5-4. Gaskins answered with a bucket but Andre Jackson's three-pointer knotted the score 7-7 by the 14:23 mark in the first half.
The Falcons responded with a 12-0 run to surge ahead 19-7 by the midway mark before a three-pointer by Wilson and three-point play by Justin Beck brought the Bulldogs within six points (19-13). Wilson's jumper followed by two made free throws by Briscoe put the Bulldogs back within striking distance.
Gaskins pushed the Falcons ahead 23-17 using four free throws. Miles Jackson drilled a three-pointer on Bowie State's next possession to make the score 23-20 before Gaskins' hit a layup to give Saint Augustine's a five point edge with 4:13 on the clock. Sophomore Omari George (Baltimore, Md.) took advantage of two Falcon fouls and dropped four free throws, leaving Saint Augustine's clinging to a 25-24 edge with 2:38 remaining before halftime.
Miles Jackson's jumper at the 1:36 mark gave Bowie State their first lead of the game. January answered with a layup and Gaskins tacked on a bucket to push the Falcons ahead 29-26 heading into halftime.
At the start of the second half, Keith Crawford drained a three-pointer for the Falcons before Bowie State answered with a free throw and three-pointer by Andre Jackson to cut Saint Augustine's lead to two points (32-30) with within the first two minutes of the second half. January's jumper and Gaskins' layup shifted the momentum back in favor of the Falcons before a 5-0 run by the Bulldogs put Bowie State within one point (36-35). A free throw by three-pointer by Jeremy Saunders followed by a bucket by January left the Bulldogs training 42-35 with 13:31 left in the game.
At the 10:44 mark, Gaskins drained two free throws to give the Falcons 48-39 advantage and their largest lead of the second half. Down but not out, Bowie State used a layup by Wilson and three free throws by George to make the score 48-44 with 9:00 left in the game. January answered with a layup to give the Falcons some breathing room (50-44) but the Bulldogs answered with a 7-2 run, leaving Saint Augustine's with a narrow 52-51 edge.
Nick Moyer sunk two free throws for the Falcons with 3:44 left in the game so to make the score 54-51. With a 55-53 lead and 2:52 on the clock Briscoe used two free throws to tie the score 55-55. Gaskins answered with a jumper but Andre Jackson stroked a three-pointer on Bowie State' next possession to push the Bulldogs ahead 58-57. Gaskins came up with a steal and layup with 1:27 left to play resulting in a 59-58 lead for Saint Augustine's.
After a quick timeout, a Bulldog foul led to a successful free throw for January and a 60-58 advantage. Watson hit a free throw for the Falcons with 39 seconds on the clock but Wilson drilled a three-pointer to knot the score 61-61 with 33 seconds left to play. A three-point play by Gaskins solidified the Falcons' advantage (64-61) with just six seconds on the clock but Julian Livingston drilled a three-pointer at the buzzer to send the contest into overtime 64-64.
At the start of the overtime period, Gaskins capitalized on two free throws before Andre Jackson answered with one of his own to make the score 66-65 in favor of the Falcons. Livingston promptly drained a three-pointer with Wilson adding a free throw for a 69-66 Bowie State lead with 1:33 remaining in the contest. Antonio Watson hit a jumper to put the Falcons within one point (69-68) but two free throws by Andre Jackson gave Bowie State a 71-68 edge with 47 seconds on the clock.
Crawford dug deep and hit a three-pointer to knot the score 71-71 with just 19 seconds left in the game but Wilson came through with a jumper to seal the 73-71 victory for Bowie State.
Bowie State advances to CIAA semifinal action on Friday with the victory. Tip-off is slated for 7:00 p.m. in Time Warner Cable Arena. The Bulldogs will take on the winner of Thursday's Virginia State University/Fayetteville State University quarterfinal match-up. Saint Augustine's ends the season with an 11-16 overall record while Bowie State advances with a 17-12 overall mark.
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COURTESY BOWIE STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION
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