Firebirds’ Road Woes Continue in 88-79 Loss at Queens

WASHINGTON, DC – The Firebirds men's basketball team led Queens for almost the entire first half and part of the second half, but a game-changing 19-3 surge by the Knights ultimately led to an 88-79 loss in East Coast Conference play at Fizgerald Gym on Wednesday night.

The Firebirds (5-19, 4-12 ECC) missed an opportunity to move within a game of tying Dowling for 6^th place in the ECC standings as the Golden Lions fell to NYIT, 72-61 earlier tonight. District of Columbia now must win its remaining two games and Dowling must lose their remaining three for the decision to go to a tie-breaker. Meanwhile, Queens improved to 8-7 in league play and 8-15 overall with tonight's win.

Junior transfer point guard Quasim Jones (Business Management – Philadelphia, PA/Johnson CC) had a terrific shooting night, scoring 24 points on 9-of-17 field goal shooting and 6-of-9 from three-point range. He also added a team-high four assists. Fellow junior transfer guards Michael Terry (Criminal Justice – Philadelphia, PA/Boston U) and Ralph Watts (Sociology – Peekskill, NY/UAlbany) were also very effective with 18 and 11 points, respectively.

Leading all scorers on the night was Queens' starting guard Patrick Parker, who netted 27 points on 11-of-16 shooting (3-of-5 from long-range).  Abe Akanmu and Deejuhan Gray added 15 and 10, respectively, while starting forward George Holmes registered 13 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Point guard Kevin Nascimento handed out a game-high six assists as well.

Keith Brooks scored the game's first points on a layup 16 seconds into the action, but Patrick Modzelewski would answer with a three-pointer to give Queens its only lead of the half, 3-2. At that juncture, the Firebirds took control of the game with a 19-4 run, highlighted by a pair of three-pointers by both Terry and Jones, as they raced out to a 21-7 lead near the 12-minute mark of the first stanza. The Knights cut the deficit to eight with a 6-0 run, and later pulled within six on a three-point shot by George Holmes at the 8:19 mark, but District of Columbia distanced itself once more with a 14-5 surge, culminating in another three-point FG by Jones to make it 38-23 with just under two minutes to play before halftime. Queens went on to close out the half on an 8-2 run though as the Firebirds settled for a 40-31 lead at the break.

Riding the momentum of their run to end the first half, the Knights continued on an 11-1 surge (18-3 run to span the halves) and took their first lead since the opening minute of regulation, 42-41 on a Deejuhan Gray layup at 16:33. Back-to-back three-pointers by Terry and Jones aided an 8-2 response by the Firebirds to regain a 49-44 lead nearing the 15-minute mark, and District of Columbia looked to be back in control. But with a 51-46 lead with just under 14 minutes to play, the Firebirds allowed Queens on a 19-3 game-changing run that catapulted the Knights into a commanding, 68-54 lead with 9:31 left to play. Patrick Parker was the catalyst for Queens during that stretch with 14 points, including three shots from behind-the-arc. District of Columbia cut the deficit to seven on three different occasions in the final 1:30 of regulation, but the Knights sealed the victory with 6-of-6 shooting at the line to win by a comfortable nine-point margin.

In what was a tale of two halves, the Firebirds were out-scored 57-39 in the closing period after taking a 40-31 lead at halftime. After shooting 59-percent from the field in the first half, the Firebirds cooled off dramatically to 36-percent in the second half while Queens heated up from 54-percent in the first half to 63-percent in the second half. The Knights also won the rebounding battle, 33-28, out-scored the Firebirds, 44-26 in the paint, and were better in assist-to-turnover ratio (19/15 to 11/12).

District of Columbia will play ECC foe Molloy next in a must-win game on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. The Firebirds will look to avenge an 81-60 loss to the Lions at home on Jan. 19^th and win their first road game of the season to stay alive in the six-team ECC playoff chase.