Firebirds Men’s Basketball Falls to South Dakota St. in Final Game of 2K Sports Classic

HEMPSTEAD, NY – Playing its third consecutive Division I opponent in as many days, the University of the District of Columbia men's basketball team suffered a lopsided, 96-48 defeat against South Dakota State on Sunday afternoon in the Firebirds' final game of the 2K Sports Classic hosted by Hofstra.

The Firebirds (1-4) were led by junior transfer point guard Quasim Jones (Business Management – Philadelphia, PA/Johnson CC) who registered 13 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the field and a perfect 4-of-4 from the foul line. Fellow junior transfer backcourt mate Michael Terry (Criminal Justice – Philadelphia, PA/Boston U) and reserve junior forward D'Angelo Johnson (Mass Media – Washington, DC/Virginia St.) each added eight points as well.

South Dakota State (3-2) put four of its starting five players in double figures and three players off the bench scored 12 points apiece. Starting guard Taevaunn Prince led all Jackrabbits scorers with 13 points while starting point guard Nate Wolters added 12 points and a game-high six assists.

The Jackrabbits scored the first eight points of the game and never looked back. SDSU out-shot District of Columbia, 49-percent (16-of-33) to 20-percent (6-of-30) from the field in the first half and held a commanding 28-15 rebounding edge as they raced out to a 45-16 halftime lead. Prince led all first half scorers with 10 of his 13 coming in that first frame while Johnson led the Firebirds with all eight of his points in the first 20 minutes.

In the second half, the Firebirds outscored the Jackrabbits 11-6 in the first 4:21 of play, with all 11 points coming from Quasim Jones. With Jones' layup at the 15:39 mark, the Firebirds closed the gap to 26, but that was as close as they would get the rest of the way. SDSU went on a 14-5 run over the next 4:30 and bolstered its lead to 67-32 as the game approached the 11-minute mark.

South Dakota State shot a blistering 62-percent (23-of-37) from the field, doing much of its damage inside the paint (24 points) in the second half as the Jackrabbits outscored the Firebirds 51-32 in the second frame to win by their largest margin of the day, 96-48.

With all four of its losses this season to Division I teams, the Firebirds will return to Division II action after a seven day layoff as they visit Dominican (NY) on Sunday, November 25^th at 3 p.m.