Bowie State Bulldogs Advance to Elite Eight

COLUMBUS, GA, ---The Bowie State University Bulldogs set school records and earned a spot in the national limelight during the 2002-2003 season, but with Monday night's 67-53 win over Presbyterian College in the NCAA Division South Atlantic Regional, the Bulldogs advanced to yet another level.

The pep band and faithful that made the 15-hour drive to Columbus, GA, for the four-day regional, celebrated the win on the court with the Bulldogs, who will now travel to Lakeland, FL, next week for the Division II Elite 8. The Bulldogs will face the Northeast Region winner at noon next Wednesday.

When head coach Luke D'Alessio arrived four years ago, the program was mired in a losing tradition, but no more. The win Monday night was even more impressive considering the Bulldogs were competing in their first NCAA post-season.

"I won't tolerate losing very long and the players I recruit won't either," said D'Alessio, who has nine seniors on his roster.

Battling back from foul trouble the previous game, Tim Washington recorded a double-double of 17 points and 15 rebounds and was named the South Atlantic Regional Most Valuable Player. Stephen Moss-Kelley shot the lights out from behind the arc, hitting 7-of-10, scoring 21 points and earned a spot on the region all-tournament team.

"I think we had at least two or three MVPs this week,"said Washington. "We have so many players that can bring it every night. I'm just happy to win the regional."

The Bulldogs found them themselves in a tight, tense battle from the beginning against the 8th-seeded Blue Hose, but as they have done the whole tournament, the Bulldogs (29-4) used a late spurt at the end of the half to build a working margin.

Moss-Kelley provided that spark as he sank two 3-pointers in the final two minutes, turning a 28-26 lead into a 34-26 advantage.

"An eight-point or 10-point lead is huge because of the way they play. I would have been happy to go into the half up three or four points," said D'Alessio.

The Bulldogs' lead hovered between 10 and five points in the second half until the 9:09 mark when a 4-0 run from the Blue Hose cut the lead to 50-47.

As D'Alessio has said all week, his seniors would not let them falter and they immediately halted the Blue Hose's momentum. Cornelius McMurray hit a floater, Jon Smith added a layup and free throws by Omarr Smith turned the lead back nine points.

McMurray and Jon Smith had great tournaments and could have just as easily been all-tournament selections. Jon Smith would finish with 11 points and eight rebounds, as the Bulldogs held a 47-25 edge on the boards, while McMurray scored seven points and handed out four assists from his point guard slot.

Chuck Rayford was all over the place for the Blue Hose, scoring 25 points.

The Bulldogs would allow a 3-pointer and the lead went back to six with 4:56 to play, but the defense would put the clamps on the rest of the way and the Blue Hose would score just three more points.

The Bulldogs had advanced to the finals riding a wave of 3-point shooting and a dominating performance in the first half.

The Bulldogs shot a lights-out 12-of-17 from behind the arc and held the Owls of Kennesaw State University to 23 points in the first half en route to the 95-70 triumph.

The Bulldogs came out firing and built a lead to put early pressure on the Owls (25-10). The Bulldogs held a 38-23 lead with 1:33 left to play in the first half and used triples from Moss-Kelley, Allen Van Norden and Arthur Lewis, Jr. to stretch the lead to an imposing 47-23 at the break. McMurray was a key factor in the Bulldogs building their lead to that point as he sank four treys. McMurray would lead the team with six 3-pointers, score 20 points and still dish out five assists.

Washington had scored 39 points the previous evening for the Bulldogs but would finish the game with nine points and eight rebounds. Picking up the slack for the Bulldogs was center Jon Smith, who came away with game highs of 24 points and 14 rebounds.

"The key was that we had been prepped that they were going to key on Jon (Smith) and Tim (Washington) and we had to be ready to shoot and shoot with confidence," said Moss-Kelley, who sank 4-of-5 from behind the arc, finishing with 12 points.

The Owls were in foul trouble early, especially Peach Belt Conference Player of the Year Terrence Hill, who picked up his second foul with 12:11 to go. The Bulldogs did a good job containing him to that point and he did not score in the first half. He would finish with just seven points before fouling out.

Reggie McCoy would lead the Owls with 16 points and nine rebounds. Tommy Thompson would finish with 12 and Booby Brown added 10 points for the Owls.

The Bulldogs were able to get significant contributions, especially from their bench, when Washington picked up three fouls.

Nathaniel Fields tied his high for minutes played this season with 10 and scored a season-high six points in the first half in place of Washington.

In their first game of the series, the Bulldogs saw their comfortable lead turn into a late one-point deficit, but they rebounded in time for the 88-82 win over Lenoir-Rhyne College.

Washington finished off the first half for the Bulldogs with a conventional three-point-play with .6 seconds remaining, giving the Bulldogs a 52-40 lead. At that juncture, Washington had 23 of his game-high 39 points as well as nine of his game high 14-rebounds.

Washington was a solid 14-of-19 from the field, many of those coming on face-up jump shots, and hit 11-of-16 from the free throw line.

When Tony Connelly hit on a drive for the Bears with 3:28 to play, the Bulldogs trailed for the first time in the game at 82-81.

A minute later the Bulldogs took the lead for good on a Jon Smith baseline-jumper. He would then follow that up with blocked shots on the Bears' next two possessions, after which the Bulldogs' lead was a virtually-secure 86-82 thanks to a free throw from Washington and two from McMurray.

With Omarr Smith in foul trouble and struggling from the field (1-6), McMurray picked the perfect time to record a season-high 21 points. He helped open up the Bulldogs inside game as he was a perfect 4-for-4 from 3-point range in the first half and sank all five free throw attempts.