Nov. 23, 2009

Final Stats

FAYETTEVILLE - Alphonza Kee was calm and relaxed in the moments following Fayetteville State's 84-73 loss to Bowie State on Monday.

Kee, who is in his first season at FSU, viewed his team's first loss as an opportunity to grow.

"On the basketball court you must stay together and execute," Kee said. "Our guys competed and they played hard as heck. They tried to do it themselves a little bit. There intent was good, but they have to stay together because it's not going to be easy."

In their first two contests the Broncos (2-1, 0-1 CIAA) averaged 100 points per game, but the size and strength of the Bulldogs' interior limited FSU's easy scoring opportunities.

FSU shot just 40.3 percent from the field, was outrebounded 48-23 and committed 18 turnovers.

The Bulldogs racked up 50 points in the paint and shot 72.4 percent from the field in the second half.

"Bowie State did a good job and got a road win," said Kee. "They played to their strength. They did a great job on the glass, got the ball inside and kept coming."

BSU (2-1, 2-0 CIAA) has won six of its last seven games against the Broncos. FSU hasn't beaten the Bulldogs since a 72-63 win in Capel Arena on Feb. 4, 2006.

"Defensively, we must be more solid," said Kee. "We have to box out. We must rotate and take charges. We have to be solid on defense and tonight we were not. We don't' care about being tired, that's not an excuse."

The Broncos led 30-28 at halftime, but BSU stormed out of the locker room on a 19-6 run. Bulldogs' seniors Duke Crews and Armond Hill scored six points in the run, giving BSU a 47-36 lead with 13 minutes left in the contest.

"I think we may have taken some shots that we normally take, but we couldn't secure the rebound," Kee said. "They just continued to pile on and we couldn't sub because we're thin as it is. When you take someone out of position, your execution just dies down."

Jamel Carpenter scored a game-high 25 points and grabbed six rebounds for the Broncos. Jarmel Baxter hit three 3-pointers and scored 14 points, while Jarrick Jones added 12. Paul Lane tallied 10 points and four rebounds.

Five BSU players - Crews, Hill, Delmar Carey, Andrew Engel and Travis Hyman - scored in double figures.

FSU travels to Virginia Union on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.

VUU was picked to win the CIAA's Eastern Division.

"Regardless of them, our goal right now is to get better," said Kee. "Until you execute and successfully run your system, you can't even focus on the opposition."