Lincoln, PA – Bluefield State University men's basketball took down University of District of Columbia in overtime 96-95 in their second game of the HBCU Gameday Classic on Sunday.
Malik Tidwell led all scorers with 23 points. Landry Palata secured the double-double with 22 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks. Jordan Hinds added 17 points and eight rebounds followed by Kaine McColley with 12 and Hirotaka Ohashi with 10 points and three steals.
UDC quickly built up a 12-point lead midway through the first half. A dunk from Hinds sparked a nine-point scoring run to pull the Big Blue within three with eight minutes left in the first. The Big Blue took their first lead of the night at the 1:44 mark after a three from McColley put the Big Blue up by one. The UDC answered with two good free throws to take back the lead. A trip to the line by Tidwell with two second remaining, put the Big Blue ahead by two going into the half.
Both teams traded buckets to open up the second half, but the Big Blue went on an 11-0 scoring run to take the 10-point lead against UDC. UDC battled back to tie it up with three minutes left in regulation. A midrange jumper from Palata put the Big Blue up by four with 52 seconds left, but two foul shots and a layup from UDC forced overtime.
Palata opened the overtime period with back-to-back jumpshots to put the Big Blue up by four. UDC answered with a layup and free throw to pull within one. Palata completed the three-point play to put the Big Blue back up by four. A trip to the line for UDC gave them the lead by one, but a late foul and two good free throws by Tidwell secured the 96-95 Big Blue victory over UDC.
Up Next
The Big Blue will be back at home Thursday, December 1st against Johnson C. Smith at 7 p.m.
