Greg Avilla, pictured here rebounding at Bowie, also scored 20 points.

Posted: Nov 15, 2010

Firebirds Fall to 0-2, lose to Bowie State 87-81

Bowie, MD: November 15, 2010 – Freshman guard Philip Izevbehai (Mass Media, Long Island, NY) scored a team-high 23 points on 7 of 10 shooting from the field, including hitting 5 of 7 three-pointers, but it was not enough as the Firebirds fell to local rival Bowie State University 87-81 on Monday night.

The loss was the Firebird's eighth straight to the Bulldogs, but this game was much closer than last year's game, which the Firebirds lost 83-61 at the UDC sports complex. There were four players who scored in double figures for the Firebirds, including Izevbehai. The other three were senior forward Greg Avila (Sociology, Bronx, NY), 20 points, junior guard Brandon Herbert (Sociology, Baltimore, MD), 15 points, and sophomore forward Dyrek Jones (Accounting, Brooklyn, NY), 11 points.

As a team, the Firebirds shot 29 of 60 from the field (48.3%), 6 of 14 from beyond the arc (42.9%), and 17 of 23 from the foul line (73.9%). The Bulldogs, on the other hand, made 24 of 35 foul shots (68.6%), including 14 of 20 (70%) in the second half, when two key firebirds got into foul trouble.

Sophomore guard Keith Brooks (Mass Media, Harlem, NY) picked up his fourth personal foul with 18:26 remaining in the 2^nd half. Freshman forward Zaid Ashmawy (Political Science, Cairo, Egypt) soon followed suit, picking up his fourth personal foul not even a minute later, with 17:45 to go in the half.

Despite the foul trouble the Firebirds were able to turn a 6-point 2^nd half deficit into a 6-point 2^nd half lead with Greg Avila's jumper at the 13:09 mark. Brandon Herbert made a layup with 12:15 to go to again stretch the Firebirds lead to 6, but that was as big as the lead would get for UDC, which then gave up an 8-0 run to the bulldogs capped by Eric Vann's 3-pointer with 9:52 to go in the game. The Bulldogs eventually took the lead for good on a jumper by Darren Clark with 9:06 to play, which made the score 61-59.

For Bowie State Darren Clark led the way with a game-high 25 points on 7 of 14 shooting, and senior guard Eric Vann had 24 points on 8 of 12 shooting.

Next up for the Firebirds is a trip to New Jersey to face Bloomfield on Wednesday, November 17, at 7:00pm. The Firebirds return home on Saturday, November 20, to play Mansfield at the UDC sports complex at 6:00pm.