UDC Men Hold On for, 71-66, Win Over Mansfield

Washington, DC: December 20, 2008—As the minutes wound down, it appeared as if the University of the District of Columbia Firebirds Men’s Basketball Team might let a potential win slip away, but they held on to defeat the Mansfield University Mountaineers, 71-66, this evening in the Physical Activities Center. Sophomore guard Tim Ellison (Alexandria, VA) put on a dazzling offensive performance, scoring a game and career-high 28 points, including ( 4 of 6) three-pointers, in only 19 minutes of play, while remaining in the game with 4 personal fouls.

Two other Firebirds were in double figures for the game. Junior forward David Burton (Philadelphia, PA) scored 17 points and grabbed 9 rebounds, and senior guard Kechan Myers (Philadelphia, PA) added 16 points and 7 rebounds.

UDC led by as many as 14 points in the first half, but Mansfield fought back to whittle the lead down to 4 points at the half time break. The Firebirds shot 61 percent (14 for 23) from two point range and 57 percent (4-7) from beyond the arc for the first half, compared to Mansfield’s 37 percent ( 11 for 30) two pointers and 16 percent ( 3 for 19) shooting from three-point range. Mansfield stayed in the game by going 6 for 6 at the charity stripe. UDC took a 35-31 lead into the locker room at the break.

Mansfield’s second half shooting improved to 40 percent (10 for 25), while UDC slipped to 36 percent (12 for 33) shooting from two point range. However, UDC shot 100 percent (11 of 11) from the charity stripe to maintain their lead.

UDC went out to a 13-point lead in the second half, but Mansfield worked that down, coming as close as to within 1-point with 4:16 remaining in the game. Back to back shots by Myers and Ellison put the Firebirds back out to a 7-point lead. Then Mansfield’s Tony Fannick and Yuseff Carr made some key connections to drop the UDC lead to 4 with 1:43 remaining. Free throws by Burton and freshman guard Alex Frempong (Fairfax, VA) put the game away for the Firebirds.

The Firebirds shot 46 percent (26 for 56) for the game, 46 percent (5 for 11) from beyond the arc, and 70 percent (14 of 20) from the charity stripe for the game. Mansfield was 38 percent (21 for 55) from the field, 23 percent (8 for 35) from beyond the arc and 67 percent (16 of 23) from the charity stripe.

Chris Pender led the Mountaineers in the game with a 21-point, 3 rebound performance, followed by Carr with 18 points and 7 rebounds.  Ryan Callahan added 10 points and 7 rebounds.

UDC improved to 4-8 after this win, while Mansfield fell to 4-3. The Firebirds return to action on January 5, 2009, in an afternoon game at 2 o’clock, to host the Alderson-Broaddus Battlers in a season re-match.