Box ScoreLINCOLN UNIVERSITY, Pa. - Ahmaad Wilson scored 19 points off the bench to earn MVP honors as Bowie State, the preseason favorite in the CIAA Northern Division, held off No. 4-ranked East Stroudsburg University for a 76-71 win on the second day of the CIAA/PSAC Challenge at Lincoln University.
ESU (1-1), which beat host Lincoln 92-72 on Friday night, led by 11 points in the first half and by eight with 12 minutes remaining before Bowie State (2-0) rallied with a 19-5 run in a four-minute stretch midway through the second half.
Wilson, a freshman, scored eight points in the run and had 14 of his 19 points in the second half. He scored 20 points off the bench in Bowie State's 76-64 win over Millersville on Friday.
ESU junior guard
Jamal Nwaniemeka scored 17 points and was also named to the All-Challenge team, along with Bowie State's Andre Jackson and Cameron Knox.
Senior guard
Whis Grant scored 15 points and added six assists, going over the 1,500-point mark (1,513) for his career in the second game of his senior season. Grant scored 11 against Lincoln on Friday night.
Senior forward
Lamont Tillery had 13 points and six rebounds and
Rasheed Moore had 11 points and six rebounds.
Jackson scored 16 points and Justin Beck had 12 points for Bowie State.
The Bulldogs shot 48.3 percent (29-for-60) from the field and 11-for-20 from the three-point line, led by Wilson (4-for-5) and Jackson (3-for-6).
ESU had an 18-14 turnover advantage, but was outrebounded 43-34 and shot 37.3 percent (25-for-67) overall and 7-for-24 from long distance.
ESU built a 27-16 lead at the nine-minute mark of the first half, but Bowie State recovered to take a two-point lead late in the period before the Warriors tied it, 37-37, at halftime.
The Warriors pushed their advantage back to eight points a couple times in the second half, going ahead 51-43 after a three-pointer by senior guard
Matt Tobin (nine points, three assists) with just under 12 minutes left. Tobin had 16 points and five assists in ESU's win over Lincoln.
Bowie State scored the next eight points in just over a minute to tie the game, and later got back-to-back three's by Zafir Williams and Wilson to lead 62-56 with eight minutes to play.
ESU cut it back to one possession with five minutes left, but didn't score again after closing within 73-71 with 2:50 remaining. The Warriors missed three three-pointers and two free throws down the stretch.
ESU had won 12 consecutive non-conference games since a 68-53 loss at USciences on November 7, 2013.
The Warriors open PSAC East action on Wednesday with a trip to Lock Haven, the site of their only regular season loss (82-80) on February 6 a year ago. ESU was 25-1 in the regular season (30-2 overall) and 15-1 in the PSAC East to win its second straight division title and third in the last five years.
GAME NOTES* ESU head coach
Jeff Wilson has 214 career wins, one from tying the school record of 215 held by Ken Sisson (19 seasons spanning 1963-78, 79-83).
Career points2218 - Jonathan Roberts (1986-90)
1775 - Don Bones (1976-81)
1556 - Earle Greer (1980-84)
1513 - WHIS GRANT (2011- )
* ESU is 9-3 with a top-5 ranking in the NABC DII poll
* ESU is 17-4 when ranked in the top 10
* ESU is 41-12 when ranked in the top 25
