Final Stats
CHARLOTTE, NC – The Livingstone men's basketball team fell just short of upsetting the Northern Division's top seed Bowie State Thursday in the 2012 CIAA Tournament Quarterfinals as the Bulldogs defeated the Blue Bears 72-68.
The Blue Bears were playing their third game in three days and came out sluggish Thursday afternoon. Bowie State grabbed the first seven points of the game and in just under six minutes reached their largest lead of the game at 21-7 with 14:08 left in the first half.
Livingstone stormed back in a big way. Trone Jackson started an 18-3 Livingstone run with two free throws and Mark “AJ” Thomas capped it off with a layup to give the Blue Bears a 25-24 lead with 9:45 left before the half.
The two teams then traded leads and Bowie State came away with a 33-29 advantage with just over three minutes on the clock. The Blue Bears, however, were able to close the first half on a 6-1 run and took a 35-34 lead into the break.
As it did in the first half, Bowie State came out strong to start the second half, taking the first five points, forcing Livingstone into a timeout. The break for the Blue Bears worked in their favor as they responded with an 8-0 run to take a 43-39 lead with 14:06 left in the contest.
The next five minutes were fairly even on both sides and Livingstone held a slim 52-51 lead with 6:42 on the clock. Livingstone showed a little fatigue over the next five minutes as Bowie State went on a 14-3 run to open a 65-55 lead with 1:22 remaining.
Despite the double-digit deficit, the Blue Bears were far from finished. Greg Henry got Livingstone back within six points with 40 seconds left and after two free throws by the Bulldogs, Bowie State held a 68-60 lead with 39 seconds left.
Mark “AJ” Thomas nailed a three-pointer with 31 seconds left to get Livingstone within 68-63. Bowie State had trouble inbounding the ball and called a timeout. After the timeout, the Bulldogs had their inbounds pass intercepted by Nasir Austin who dished it to Thomas who knocked down another three-pointer with 27 seconds left to get the Blue Bears within two with 27 seconds left. The Bulldogs went back up by four with 25 seconds left and after a flurry of action Omar Ford-Bey connected on a layup with three seconds left. Bowie State converted both free throws to win the game 72-68.
Livingstone was led by Mark “AJ” Thomas who had 22 points. Nasir Austin added 15 points and six rebounds while Trone Jackson finished with 11 points.
The Blue Bears shot 40.7 percent from the field including 38.9 percent from three-point range. Livingstone converted only 13-of-19 free-throw attempts.
The loss marked the final collegiate basketball game for seniors Greg Henry, Trone Jackson, Quintin Redfern, Cody Paul and Darrius Sellers.
