The Alderson Broaddus men’s basketball team played
their home opener on Saturday facing off against the Bowie State Bulldogs out
of the CIAA. Alderson Broaddus was coming off a trip last week to Detroit,
Michigan where they had split games with GLIAC opponents. Bowie State came into
the game 3-0 and earning the #17 ranking in the latest D2SIDA media poll. One
of those three wins for Bowie was against the defending runner-up and current
#7-ranked team Indiana of Pennsylvania. That victory for the Bulldogs had taken
place at IUP.
The Bulldogs came in with an imposing lineup that was
sure to test the Battlers on both sides of the ball. The Bulldogs were led by
Jordan Goodman’s 20 points per game. The 6’8” senior transfer from New Mexico
was once a 5-star recruit. He had originally committed to play basketball for
Georgetown before enrolling at Harcum Community College. Bowie State also
brought in guard Justin Beck who was a pre-season All-CIAA pick. Beck came into
the game averaging 17.3 points per game. Needless to say, the Bulldogs were
bringing an athletic and talented team.
The Battlers asserted themselves in this game early
and often. Bowie State jumped out to a 3-0 lead at the 18:15 mark of the first
half. That would be the last lead that the Bulldogs would have for the rest of
the game. The Battlers took a 5-3 lead at the 16-minute mark on a layup by
Richard Lemon and never looked back the rest of the afternoon.
The Battlers would extend the lead to 22 points in the
first half on a Manny Artinano’s basket where he slipped a screen and was fed a
beautiful pass by senior Malcolm Tatum. That layup pushed the score to 32-10 at
the 4:45 mark of the first half. But Bowie State was too talented to keep the
score at that margin. The Bulldogs would go on a 15-2 run to close out the
first half and cut the Battler lead to 34-25 heading into intermission.
The Battlers would start the second half by jumping
out to a 42-27 lead at the 17:31 mark thanks to back-to-back 3-pointers by
Angelo Cugini and Malcolm Tatum. The closest Bowie got to AB would be to cut
the deficit to eight points on a couple of occasions. But for most of the
second half, the Battlers maintained a double-digit lead and finished with a
76-63 victory.
The Battlers were led by Angleo Cugini’s 22 points and
12 rebounds. The 6’7” sophomore from Akron, OH connected on four 3-pointers. AB
also got 18 points from senior forward Thylas Perkins, 17 points from junior
reserve Sanar Shamdeen and 11 points, 8 rebounds from senior Richard Lemon. The biggest key to the victory however may have been the Battlers efforts on the defensive end of the floor. AB was able to hold Goodman to seven points on 2 of 9 shooting from the floor. This was well under his average. The Battlers also held Justin Beck to only ten points. Bowie had come into Saturday's contest averaging 85 points per game. The Battlers were able to hold them to 22-points under their average.
The Battlers will return to action this Friday,
November 27th when they take on a 3-0 Ashland University squad at
the first game of the 32nd annual Gary Miller Classic that takes
place on the campus of Gannon University in Erie, PA. The video of the game can
be seen by logging on to www.gannonsports.com.
Ashland was the pre-season GLIAC South favorite to start the season. The Eagles
are coming off an impressive win over nationally pre-season rated #8
Indianapolis.
The Great Midwest Athletic Conference has named sophomore forward Angelo Cugini as the G-MAC men's basketball player of the week. Cugini is coming off a 22 point and 12 rebound effort in a Battler victory over nationally ranked Bowie State on Saturday. The 6'7" native of Akron, OH is the Battler leading scorer after three games and is tied as the team's leading rebounder. Cugini finished the Bowie State game shooting 8 of 12 shooting while connecting on 4 of 7 from three-point land.
