District of Columbia Holds Off Devils, 76-63 in Season Home Opener

Photo Album

WASHINGTON, DC – In front of an enthusiastic Homecoming crowd at UDC Gym, the University of the District of Columbia men's basketball team earned a decisive, 76-63 victory over non-conference foe University of the Sciences in its season home opener on Saturday night.

Junior transfer point guard Quasim Jones (Business Management – Philadelphia, PA/Johnson CC) led the Firebirds (1-1) to their first victory of the season with 19 points, four assists and one steal. Three other District of Columbia players scored in double-figures, including: junior transfer guard Michael Terry (Criminal Justice – Philadelphia, PA/Boston University) with 16 points, junior transfer swingman Ralph Watts (Sociology – Peekskill, NY/University at Albany) with 13, and junior forward Ziad Ashmawy (Economics – Cairo, Egypt/American City College) with 10 points. Junior forward Dyrek Jones (Business Management – Brooklyn, NY/Bedford Academy HS) pitched in with a team-high 10 rebounds.

USciences (0-1) was also led by four double-figure scorers, including Garret Kerr's double-double of 17 points and a game-high 13 boards. He also pitched in with three assists and one steal before fouling out of the game. Henry Messinger added 14, Patrick Connaghan was close to a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds, and point guard William Kernan pitched in with 10 points and three assists.

USciences' Messinger buried an open three-pointer for the first points of the game, and later Kerr capped a 9-2 Devils run with a fast-break layup almost three-minutes into the action. The Firebirds answered though with three straight baskets, including a spot-up three-pointer from the top of the key by Jones, and quickly tied the game at nine-apiece. A layup by Kernan would put USciences back up two, 11-9, but another three-pointer by Jones would ignite a 12-0 Firebids run, culminating in a three-pointer by senior Keith Brooks (Journalism – Queens, NY/Monsignor McClancy HS) to give District of Columbia a commanding, 23-11 lead at the 9:47 mark. Still leading 31-18 with about three-and-a-half minutes to go, the Firebirds allowed the Devils on an 8-0 run, which cut their deficit to five, 31-26 with just 21 seconds left to play in the half. The Firebirds ended the half on a positive note though, as Jones found an open Michael Terry in the corner, and he buried the three-pointer at the buzzer to put the host's up 34-26 as both teams headed to the locker rooms.

Kernan knocked down a trey to start things off in the second half, and cut the Devils deficit to five just 29 seconds into the action. The Firebirds answered with a barrage of three-pointers amounting to a 12-0 run, and giving District of Columbia a 17-point cushion, 46-29. The Firebirds maintained a double-digit lead for the majority of the second half, but did allow USciences to close within eight points (68-60) after a 5-0 run highlighted by three Messinger free-throws. District of Columbia went on to sink 8-of-8 from the foul line down the stretch, four of those free-throws coming from Ashmawy, who was a perfect 8-for-8 on the night, himself, and the Firebirds won comfortably, 76-63.

USciences out-shot District of Columbia 49-percent to 40-percent from the field for the game, but the Firebirds made out much better from long-range (9-of-21, 43-percent; 2-of-16, 13-percent) and from the foul line (25-of-31, 81-percent; 9-of-14, 64-percent). Also, the Devils held a 36-29 rebounding edge, but it was the Firebirds holding a 38-14 disparity in points in the paint and doubling USciences up, 14-7 in second-chance points. Turnovers were another big factor as District of Columbia had just eight miscues on the night compared to a whopping, 19 by the Devils. The Firebirds cashed those 19 turnovers into 22 points.

Next up, the Firebirds will travel to Hempstead, NY to resume play in the Wounded Warrior Project 2K Sports Classic Tournament with three straight Division I opponents. First up is Marshall on November 16^th at 4:30 p.m.