The University of the District of Columbia Men’s Basketball Team Continues Its Winning Ways After Long Lay-off; Defeats Dominican, 74-63
WASHINGTON, DC – The University of the District of Columbia men's basketball team showed no lingering effects after a 20-day layoff as it defeated non-conference foe Dominican College, 74-63 in the last game of the calendar year at the UDC Gym on Friday afternoon. The Firebirds finish 2011 a perfect 11-0 at the UDC Gym dating back to Jan. 5.
"This was a great win for us considering we hadn't played for a while, and we were playing a very good team in Dominican College," head coach Jeff Ruland said. "We'll get right back to work and come ready to play in our next game."
The Firebirds were led by their dynamic backcourt duo of seniors Brandon Herbert (Baltimore, MD – McDonough HS) and Nigel Munson (Washington, DC – DeMatha HS) who combined for 45 points. Herbert shot 8-of-16 from the field, including a season-high seven three-point field goals to lead all scorers with 25 while Munson poured in 20 points and dished out a game-high seven assists. Diyaaldin Kelley (Philadelphia, PA – Mariana Bracetti HS) also pitched in with 16 points on a 5-of-7 shooting day from the field (6-of-7 FT).
Meanwhile, the Chargers featured three double-figure scorers in Cory Quimby (17 points, six rebounds), A.J. Burton (15 points) and Mike Calzonetti (10 points).
The first six minutes of action saw three lead changes and two ties as Quimby scored Dominican's first five points and helped the Chargers claim a 9-7 advantage just past the 15-minute mark. After Munson's 1-of-2 trip at the line, Herbert intercepted a Charger pass at midcourt and found a streaking Munson for an easy lay-up to put the Firebirds up 10-9 just before the 14-minute mark, and UDC would never trail again. Munson's free-throw began what amounted to an 18-4 run which put the hosts up 25-13. Dominican, which shot 50-percent as a team in the first half, did cut the Firebird lead down to as little as three after a Calzonetti three-pointer at the 4:16 mark, but the District of Columbia would score nine of the final 14 points of the half to take a 40-33 halftime lead. Herbert, who connected on his first four three-point attempts of the afternoon, had 16 points at the break.
Calzonetti canned a three-pointer for the Chargers to open the second half scoring and help Dominican close within four, but that would be as close as the visitors would get the rest of the way. An and-one layup by Kelley sparked a 13-4 UDC run, culminating in a Herbert three-pointer to put the Firebirds up 53-40, and they would never look back. Dominican never got any closer than 10 the rest of the way, and the hosts led by as much as 22 before the Chargers closed out the final four minutes on a 12-1 run to make the final score, 74-63.
District of Columbia out-shot Dominican 45-percent to 37-percent from the field and was more effective from long range (9-of-20 / 5-of-12). The Firebirds held a slight, 36-34 rebounding edge and distributed the ball more efficiently with 13 assists compared to nine by the Chargers.
The Firebirds host non-conference foe Washington Adventist on Wednesday, January 4th at 7:30 p.m. For those who cannot make the game, there will be a live video webcast using the "Video" link on the schedule page.