Firebirds Return Favor, Defeat Battlers 67-65

Philippi, WVA: January 5, 2008—If revenge were on the minds of the University of the District of Columbia Firebirds against the Alderson-Broaddus Battlers basketball team tonight, they certainly exacted it by defeating them, 67-65, in Philippi, West Virginia. In December, the Battlers handed the Firebirds an 80-77 defeat in Washington for their second loss of the season. But revenge is sweet, and the Firebirds got it tonight.

Senior guard Charlie Smallwood (Palmer Park, MD) led the Firebirds to the win by posting 19 points, grabbing 7 rebounds and giving 3 assists. Two other Firebirds were in double figures: senior forward Justin Walker (Teaneck, NJ) – 18 points, 4 rebounds, and senior guard Frank Petersen (Silver Springs, MD) 11 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists.

The Firebirds shot 49% (26 for 53) for the game and made 73% (11 for 15) of their free throws. Their 3-point shooting was not as accurate, making just 4 of 11 for the game.

Alderson-Broaddus jumped out to an early lead in the first half concluding a 13-0 run at the 15:38 mark of the half before UDC got on the board when Smallwood hit a jumper. The Battlers then took a 22-9 lead until Brian Adams made two free throws to get the Firebirds in double figures and make the score 22-10.

UDC came back to take the lead (29-26) with 2:38 remaining and ended the half with a 7 point lead and the score of 35-28. UDC led the entire second half, out scoring Alderson-Broaddus 37-28, to win the game 67-65.

Firebirds reserve Justin Walker made the difference in the game as he came off the bench to score his 18 points. The Battlers were able to capitalize on Firebird turnovers, scoring 19 points off 14 turnovers.

With this win, the Firebirds improved their season record to 8-2. They return to action Thursday, January 10, against the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia.