District of Columbia Men’s Basketball Hosts Battle of the Birds Saturday

2012-13 University of the District of Columbia Men's Basketball Game Notes

Roberts Wesleyan (4-5, 1-0 ECC) at District of Columbia (1-7, 0-1 ECC)

Saturday, December 15^th – UDC Gym (Washington, DC)

Opening Tip-Off

District of Columbia returns to East Coast Conference play on Saturday, December 15^th as it hosts the first-ever edition of the "Battle of the Birds" – Firebirds vs. Redhawks. Tip-off is at 1 p.m. Follow Live Stats and Live Video.

Updating the Firebirds

District of Columbia has struggled in the early portion of the season, going 0-4 against Division I competition and just 1-3 versus their D2 opponents for an overall mark of 1-7. The Firebirds have lost six straight after winning their home opener over USciences, 76-63 back on November 10^th.  They lost their ECC season opener to Bridgeport, 92-68 last Saturday, and most recently suffered a heartbreaking, 73-71 loss to their cross town rival, Bowie State, on a buzzer-beating layup Wednesday night.  District of Columbia is led by two junior transfer guards, Quasim Jones (Business Management – Philadelphia, PA/Johnson CC) and Michael Terry Criminal Justice – Philadelphia, PA/Boston U). Jones averages 12.9 points and an ECC-3^rd best, 4.4 assists per-game while Terry averages 11.5 points per-game. Also, senior transfer forward D'Angelo Johnson (Mass Media – Washington, DC/Virginia State) averages 9.0 points and 3.0 rebounds per-game. He led all Firebird scorers with 16 points their last time out.

Scouting Roberts Wesleyan

The Redhawks suffered a 73-67 loss to Daeman College in their last outing on Tuesday night to dip below .500 on the season at 4-5. In the loss, sophomore guard Mike Stone led all scorers with 17 points to go with four steals. He is shooting 43.5-percent from behind-the-arc and averaging 12.0 points per-game this season. The team's leading scorer though, is senior forward Devin Grimes who averages a double-double of 15.9 points and 13.3 rebounds per-game along with 23 assists, 15 steals and four blocks. Other Redhawks averaging double-figures in scoring are Tyrel Dixon and Patrick Downer. Dixon, a freshman, is averaging 11.4 points per-game while Downer is right behind with 10.8 points per-game.

The Matchup

 This marks the first-ever matchup between these schools as Roberts Wesleyan, a former NAIA school in Rochester, NY, is in its first year as a member of Division II and of the ECC. The Redhawks have a slight +1.4 rebounding margin, and a slim +0.4 turnover margin as they average 10.1 steals per-game. Meanwhile, District of Columbia is shooting 35.7-percent from the field and 33.8-percent from three-point range. The Firebirds are also solid from the free-throw line, shooting an ECC-best 70.7-percent as a team.