RICHMOND, Virginia -- The Bluefield State men's basketball team fell to Paul Quinn College in the first round of the USCAA National Championship in the Multipurpose Center, 88-74.
 The Big Blue will drop to the consolation bracket and play the loser of BSC Albany and Manor Collge. Mar. 8. Tipoff is set at 10:00 a.m.
The Big Blue came out the gate early with the lead over Paul Quinn. Jordan Hinds put the first two in for the Big Blue with a layup in the paint and was assisted by Landry Palata.  
A steal from Hinds and a good layup in the paint by Marquez Cooper added two more for the Big Blue. A foul by Henry Hampton sent Hirotaka Ohashi to the line for two. 
Ohashi made 2/2 putting the Big Blue up, 6-0 at the 18-minute mark. The Tigers took the lead at the 15-minute mark with a layup in the paint by Spencer Mcelway, 11-10. 
The Tigers went up by 10 at the seven-minute mark with a fast break layup in the paint by Mcelway, 28-18. Cooper cut the Tigers lead to six at the 5-minute mark with another layup in the paint, 32-26. 
The Tigers went back up by 11 with 3:05 remaining. The Big Blue struggled to get the lead back under 10 before the half. The Tigers went up by 15 at halftime, 47-32. 
The Tigers started the second half adding to their lead with a three-pointer by Hampton, 50-32. The Big Blue continued to struggle on offense. As a result,  the Tigers held a 20-point lead over them at the 14-minute mark. 
The Big Blue got outworked inside the paint by the Tigers Monday afternoon. The Tigers scored 62 points in the paint versus the Big Blue 40. 
The Tigers added 40 points off the bench. While the Big Blue only added 16. 
Marquez Cooper led with a double-double Monday afternoon. Cooper had 31 points on 11-24 shooting and added 11 rebounds in 39 minutes. 
Jordan Hinds followed with 13 points on 6-14 shooting. Hinds added six rebounds in 26 minutes. 
Landry Palata missed his own double-double with eight points and seven rebounds in 34 minutes. 
Overall, the team shot 27-74 for 36.5%. 
They were 3-16 for 18.8% from the three-point line.
The team was also 17 of 20 on free throws.
The Tigers outrebounded the Big Blue 62-49.