Jan. 17, 2008

Final Stats

Story Courtesy of Gregory Goings, BSU Sports Information

Tough defense and the strong inside play of senior David Paris, played key roles in Bowie State's 75-60 conference victory over visiting Johnson C. Smith. Paris really elevated his game, ripping down a season-high 18 rebounds, scored 15 points and blocked three shots.

Bowie State (9-5 overall and 5-3 in the CIAA) started slow, falling behind 5-0 in the first 1:03 forcing Bulldogs Head Coach Luke D'Alessio to burn an early timeout. Whatever D'Alessio said, it must have been clearly understood. Johnson C. Smith held a 9-3 lead before Bowie State stormed back with a 16-4 run to take a six point lead (19-13) by the midway point of the first half. Senior Jason Ingram was responsible for nine of those points during that stretch. A 3-pointer by JCSU's Ryan Scott (Reston, Va.) tied the game at 23 by the 6:56 mark. Bowie State would not trail anymore and strolled into the break holding a 40-31 advantage. As a team, Bowie State shot 50 percent from the floor (16-of-32) and held Johnson C. Smith to 33 percent shooting (10-of-30).

The Bulldogs led by as much as 17 points (55-38) at the 12:34 mark of the second half but Johnson C. Smith managed to trim the BSU lead down to five (59-54) following a 3-point bomb by Maurice Hooper (Reidsville, N.C.) with 7:19 left to play. Unfortunately for the Golden Bulls, Bowie State's lead ballooned to double figures again after a 3-point basket and two free throws by senior Carlos Williams (12 points and five assists). Johnson C. Smith managed just three field goals over the final 7:19 with Ronald Thornhill (Alberta, Va.), James Dillard (Apex, N.C.) and Darren Ramsey (Salisbury, N.C.) accounting for those.

Hooper was the only Johnson C. Smith player to achieve double figure scoring honors, leading the Golden Bulls with 14 points. Aside from Hooper's production, Thornhill, Scott and Edmund Rainey (Buffalo, N.Y.) chipped in nine points apiece and David Sanders (Buffalo, N.Y.) added another eight points. Jerry Hollis (Charlotte, N.C.) paced JCSU with nine rebounds and Ramsey pulled down another seven.

Other than Paris, Ingram recorded his 11th double figure game of the season, tallying 17 points to go along with six rebounds. Junior Curtis Massey had his best point production game of the year, scoring 12 points on four-of-five shooting and senior Joshua Johnson contributed 10 rebounds, seven points and a game-high four blocked shots.

Johnson C. Smith (9-5 overall / 3-3 in the CIAA) returns to action - Saturday (1/19), hosting Saint Paul's and Bowie State's next contest is also Saturday (1/19) versus Livingstone in BSU's A.C. Jordan Arena.