Firebirds victorious in second straight game, 110-100 over Central State
Washington, DC: January 15, 2011 – The UDC men's basketball team (4-11) surpassed the 100-point mark for the first time this season in route to a 110-100 victory over the Central State University Marauders (9-7).
It was the first meeting between the two schools this season, and the fourth since 2008. The Marauders had won the last three games between the two schools, and held a two-point advantage at the half. But, UDC outscored Central State 67-55 in the second half to build its first multi-game win streak in almost two years.
For the first time this season a UDC men's player surpassed 30 points, as junior guard Brandon Herbert (Sociology – Baltimore, MD) finished with a season-high 31 points. Also finishing with season-high point totals were junior guard Nigel Munson (Graphic Design – Washington, DC), who had 28 points and 11 assists for his second double-double of the season, and senior guard Tim Ellison (Mass Media – Alexandria, VA), who had 23 points. Sophomore guard Keith Brooks (Mass Media – Harlem, NY) added 11 points, going 3 for 5 from downtown.
As a team UDC was 9 of 22 (40.9%) from long range, but seven of those three-pointers came in the second half. The nation's 18th ranked three-point field goal defense held the Firebirds to just 2 of 12 (16.7%) from beyond the arc in the first half. The Marauders also used their size advantage to out-rebound UDC 23-8 in the first 20 minutes. That sizeable rebounding edge gave Central State an 11-2 advantage in first half, second chance points. However, the Firebirds were able to keep the game close throughout the first half by forcing 10 turnovers, while only giving the ball up five times themselves.
In the second half it was a three-pointer by Herbert with 19:09 remaining that gave the Firebirds the lead for good. The trey sparked a 17-4 UDC run that spanned nearly four minutes and resulted in a 12-point Firebirds lead with 15:27 remaining. The Marauders would manage to cut UDC's lead to as few as five points over the next 10 minutes, but strong free-throw shooting by the Firebirds down the stretch made it impossible to get any closer, as UDC hung on for its third home win in seven games this season.
Leading the way for Central State was junior guard Greg Rice, who had 24 points and 13 rebounds. Junior forward Gerald Campbell added 18 points and 9 boards, while junior Keith Cox and sophomore DeAndre Riep each pitched in 13 points.
Next up for UDC is another home game, Saturday January 22, at 3:00pm. The game can be heard live by clicking on the "audio" link under the scheduled game on the front page at www.udcfirebirds.com.