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BOWIE STATE BULLDOGS CORRAL JOHNSON C. SMITH GOLDEN BULLS 95-81 Gregory C. Goings (MILWAUKEE, WI – November 26, 2010) Junior Jay Gavin scored a game and season-high 25 points and Eric Vann added 22 to lead Bowie State University to a 95-81 victory over Johnson C. Smith University in the opening collegiate game of the Fresh Coast Classic. Bowie State (3-0) will play Clark Atlanta in the championship game - Saturday (November 27) at 4 p.m. on the campus of Wisconsin Lutheran College. “Coming into tournaments, you always want to come out on top in that first game, and I was pleased with our guys play”, said second-year head coach Darrell Brooks. The Bowie State Bulldogs and Johnson C. Smith Golden Bulls were nip and tuck early in the contest, with neither team leading by no more than four points. Bowie State held its first double-digit lead (32-21) at the 7:42 mark of the first half following a 3-point field goal by sophomore Bryan Wilson. Bowie State’s defense held Johnson C. Smith to just two free throws over the final 2:22 of the first period and took and comfortable 14 point cushion (55-41) into halftime. The Bulldogs defense also created eight JCSU Golden Bulls first half turnovers, resulting in 14 Bowie State points. Bowie State opened the second half with a 7-0 run and pushed the lead to a game-high 22 points (88-66) with 7:23 remaining in the game. Johnson C. Smith was able to narrow the gap to seven at 66-59 at the 14:26 mark, but that’s as close as the Golden Bulls would get all afternoon. Johnson C. Smith (2-1) closed out the game shooting 27-of-61 from the field (44 percent) and shot a frigid 4-of-17 (24 percent) behind the 3-point line. Four Golden Bulls scored in double figures with Ronald Thornhill and Michael Cooper leading JCSU with 16 points apiece. Ryan Carter added a dozen points and Trevin Parks contributed 10 points in the loss. “We had spurts where our offense and defense played very well, but also had spurts where the offense and defense didn’t play as well”, said Brooks. Besides the scoring output of Gavin and Vann, junior Darren Clark and sophomore Bryan Wilson added 13 and 12 points respectively. Gavin shot 7-of-11 from the field which included 5-of-8 behind the arc, hit 6-of-6 from the charity stripe and tied for game-high rebound honors with seven. Junior Ali Djim also pulled down seven rebounds for the Bulldogs to go along with eight points. In spite of the cold conditions in the venue, Bowie State ended the game with 53 percent field goal shooting (31-of-59) and a season-high 82 percent from the free throw line (22-of-27). Thanks, Gregory C. Goings |