In one of the most exciting games in VUU history, the Virginia Union University men's basketball team rallied from being 13 points down with just over 11 minutes left to play to capture a 53-52 win over Bowie State University in the quarterfinals of the CIAA Tournament, held on Wednesday, February 23, at the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, Md.

VUU's Robert Osborne scored 16 points while teammate Jordan Peebles grabbed 12 rebounds to send the Panthers into the tournament semifinals, to be played at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, February 25.

Virginia Union, trailing through much of the game, finally took the lead with 40 seconds left to play on a free throw by Darius Hines-Sledd.

Even with the lead, VUU had to withstand not one, not two, but three attempts by Bowie State to retake the lead.  The Panthers forced the Bulldogs into turnovers with 17 seconds and eight seconds left to play.  Then VUU had to watch as a desperation three-point attempt by Bowie State bounced off the rim as time expired.

In the end, Virginia Union came away with its 22nd win of the season, tying the most wins in a season by a Jay Butler-coached team.  The 2016-17 team also won 22 games.

"They were predicted to finish one in the division and so we knew they were a very talented team," VUU Head Men's Basketball Coach Jay Butler said of BSU. "They struggled most of the year and they were able to beat us earlier in the year and we beat them at our place. But we knew coming in that it was going to be a tough game for us."

But Butler refused to look ahead of the next game, which will pit Virginia Union against the winner of the Winston-Salem State University-Saint Augustine's University game at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, February 25, at the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, Md.

"Right now we just got to get to Saturday night, and if we can tear the nets down on Saturday night," said Butler.  "Then we start talking about  NCAAs."

The game will be televised on the ESPN+ network.