BOWIE, MD – The Virginia State Men's Basketball earned their seventh conference victory against Bowie State 67-58. This win is a special one because Senior guard
Francis "BJ" Fitzgerald scored his 1000
th point as a Trojans on a three-pointer. The Trojans utilized a 14-0 run in the first half to lift them over the Bulldogs.
First Half
The Bulldogs jumped out to a 6-0 lead early in the first half with 18:17 left in the first half. While the Trojans were able to cut the lead to four, Bowie State took a 11-5 lead with 15:13 left in the half. The Trojans were able to get back their usual selves later in the half mounting a massive 14-0 run which made the score 19-11 with 9:54 left in the first half.
Francis "BJ" Fitzgerald reached his milestone on a three-pointer with 10:07 left in the first half. The Trojans increased their lead to 10 following yet another three-pointer made the sharpshooter in Fitzgerald. The Trojans were able to take a 10-point lead with 6:40 left. While the Bulldogs were able to cut the lead to nine with 3:41 left, the Trojans extended their lead back out to 12 at 37-25 heading into the halftime break.
Second Half
The Bowie State Bulldogs were able to start their half with a 7-2 run to cut the lead down to 39-32 with 16:50 left to go in the second half. The Trojans used a 9-4 run to take their largest lead of the game which was 14 points. The Bulldogs were able to cut the lead down to single digits at nine with 10:36 left to go in the second half. That being said, with 6:34 left to go in the half, Francis "BJ" Fitzgerald hit a three-pointer to make the score 62-48. The Bulldogs made their move for the lead scoring five straight points to cut the Trojans lead to just 64-58 with 2:05 left in the contest. The Trojans were able to be solid on defense to close out the contest 67-58.
Team Statistics
The Trojans were able to outrebound the Bulldogs 43-27 as 17 offensive rebounds led to eight second chance points. The VSU bench dominated the bench of Bowie State 29-12. The Trojans shot 24-of-45 (42.9%) from the field and 7-of-16 (43.8%) from beyond the arc while the Bulldogs hit 20-of-48 (41.7%) form the field and just 3-of-12 (25.0%) form beyond the arc. The Trojans, however, committed 15 turnovers while forcing only 10. The Trojans shot 12-of-19 (63.2%) from the foul line while the Bulldogs shot 15-of-21 (71.4%)
Stat Leaders
Francis "BJ" Fitzgerald scored his 1,000th point as a Trojan in Saturday's matchup against Bowie State while scoring a team-high 18 points along with seven rebounds, a block and three assists. Fitzgerald shot 6-of-12 (50%) from the field and a season-high 4-of-5 (80%) from beyond the arc. Terrence Hunter-Whitfield scored 15 points on 6-of-16 (37.5%) shooting from the field. Hunter-Whitfield also accounted for four rebound and an assist in the win. Tremere Brown was able to cause problems for the Bulldogs scoring 11 points shooting 4-of-7 (57.1%) from the field along with seven boards and a steal. Zach Newkirk scored 10 points along with five assists and two rebounds while shooting 3-of-6 (50%) from the field and 2-of-2 (100%) from beyond the three-point arc. Stephon Roberts scored five points along with four rebounds with an assist and a block. Tim Montgomery came off the bench and scored four points along with three assists, with a rebound and a steal in just 11 minutes of action. Dajour Rucker grabbed seven boards and scored a pair of points with an assist in the win.
Up Next
The Trojans prepare to return to the home crowd in the VSU Multipurpose center as they set to face the Blue Bears of Livingstone on Wednesday, February 1 at 5:30 p.m.
