Firebirds Fall to St. Augustine's, 87-68, In Season Opener

Washington, DC: November 12, 2010-- Despite a second half run, the University of the District of Columbia Firebirds fell to the St. Augustine's College Falcons, 87-68, at the Sports Complex in Washington, DC. Freshman forward Ziad Ashmawy (Political Science-Cairo, Egypt) led the Firebirds scoring tied for the game-high with 19 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal.

St. Augustine's senior forward Shaun Washum posted a double-double 19 points, 13 rebounds, and 4 assists and 1 steal to lead the Falcons to the win. The opening minutes of the game was evenly played, with the score knotted at 15 at the 11:08 mark. That was about as close as the Firebirds got from that point on, as the Falcons picked up the tempo and made a 7-0 run at 10:54 in the game, stretching the lead to 22 by the end of the first half and didn't look back. The score at the end of the half was 47-25.

UDC shot 33 % (9-27) from the field, 9% (1-11) from three-point range and 60%(6-10) from the charity stripe for the 1st half, while St. Augustine's shot 73%(16-22) from the field, a perfect 100% from beyond the arc and 100%(7-7)  from the free-throw line.

The Firebirds opened the second half of play with a steal by sophomore guard Keith Brooks(Mass Media-Harlem, NY) and a jumper by junior guard Davis Sanders (Information Tech.- Upper Marlboro, MD). UDC then made a 9-2 run with 15:52 remaining to cut the lead to 12 before St. Augustine's came back to stretch the lead to 19 points for the win.

St. Augustine's shot 62%(24-39) from the field for the game, a phenomenal 77%(10-13) from beyond the arc and 81%(29-36) from the charity stripe, while UDC shot 40%(22-55) from the field, 12%(2-17) from three-point range and 67%(22-33) from the free-throw line.

The Firebirds had three players in double digits for the game, including Ashmawy, senior forward Greg Avila(Sociology-Bronx, NY) with 17 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal, and junior guard Brandon Herbert (Sociology-Baltimore, MD) with 11 points, 1 rebound3 assists and 1 steal.

The Falcons also had three players in double digits, including Washum, sophomore guard Nick Chamblee with 18 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists, and freshman guard Joel Kindred with 13 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 5 steals.

St. Augustine's bench made the difference in the game as they outscored UDC's 44-15. UDC did score more points in the paint 36-24 and held the advantage in second chance points off rebounds, 12-6. Turnover points were nearly even with UDC getting 24 to St. Augustine's 22.

UDC dropped to 0-1 for the season, while St. Augustine's moved to 1-0. The Firebirds will travel across town to play local rival Bowie State University in Bowie, Maryland on Monday, November 15, at 7 p.m.