Bowie State Advances to CIAA Championship with 71-69 Win Over Livingstone

Bulldogs Record Second Upset Victory in Two Days

MEDIA CONTACT: Greg Goings, ggoings@bowiestate.edu

(CHARLOTTE, N.C.) – The Bowie State University men's basketball team advanced to the championship game in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Tournament after recording their second upset victory in as many days. The Bulldogs held off a late charge from second seed Livingstone College to defeat the Blue Bears 71-69 in the semi-finals Friday evening at the Spectrum Center.
 
The fourth seeded Bulldogs advance to Saturday's championship game to face the Fayetteville State University Broncos, who delivered their own upset victory over Virginia State University Friday night. Bowie State improves to 15-14. Livingstone finishes the season at 11-17.

Michael Briscoe and Ahmaad Wilson combined to score 42 points for Bowie State. Briscoe knocked down a career-high 24 points on 10-17 shooting and also had a game high six steals. Wilson scored 18 points.
 
Roger Ray led Livingstone with 17 points. David Duncan added 11 points and a game-high 19 rebounds.
 
Turnovers played a big role in the momentum shift in the first half as Bowie State took full advantage of 16 Livingstone turnovers, leading to 24 of their 37 points. Bowie State also recorded a better shooting percentage, making 46.9 percent (15-32) of their shots in the first half, while Livingstone shot 40.9 percent (9-22) from the field.
 
Duncan made two consecutive baskets to open the second half for Livingstone, cutting the Bowie State lead to one 37-36. Bowie State continued to apply the defensive pressure, forcing six more turnovers leading to a 13-6 flourish and a 50-42 lead with 12:01 remaining. Briscoe's three-point field goal at the 9:24 mark gave Bowie State its largest lead at 55-46.
 
Livingstone then began to chip away at the Bowie State lead, scoring six straight points, capped by Ray's traditional three-point play to make it a one possession game at 55-52. The two teams exchanged baskets over the next several possessions until Ray stole the ball and took it the length of the court for a layup to pull Livingstone within one at 62-61. After a defensive stop, LC's Desmond Stanback got the ball down low and drove in for a layup, giving the Blue Bears a 63-62 lead with 4:30 left, capping off a 17-7 flourish.
 
Briscoe's three-point field goal with 1:54 left put Bowie State back on top at 68-67. Wilson then connected on three of four free throws in the final 12.1 seconds to secure the upset victory 71-69, Bowie State's second in two days.

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