Firebirds Fall to Reigning East Region Champion Franklin Pierce in Riley's Debut

WASHINGTON, DC - The University of the District of Columbia men's basketball team fell to the reigning NCAA Division II East Region champion, Franklin Pierce, by a final score of 105-86 in Mike Riley's Firebird head coaching debut Sunday afternoon in the nation's capital.

Senior guard Quasim Jones (Business Management - Philadelphia, PA/Johnson CC) led four Firebird scorers in double-figures with a game-high 28 points. Junior forward Lenjo Kilo (Biology - Silver Spring, MD/Seton Hill) and junior guard Prince Ritson (Psychology - Greenbelt, MD/Bowie St.) scored 18 and 15 points, respectively, with Kilo also adding a team-high nine rebounds.

Franklin Pierce (2-0), a Northeast-10 Conference team, featured a very balanced offensive attack which included six double-figure scorers, including forward Ellis Cooper's double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds.

The Ravens, who were coming off a 74-71 win over Mansfield on a buzzer-beating three-pointer by freshman guard Donte Gittens just last night, raced out to a 10-0 lead in the first two minutes of action and led wire-to-wire. FPU shot a blistering 53-percent (18-of-34) from the field and made 16-of-17 (94-percent) from the free-throw line in the first half and took a commanding, 57-37 lead at intermission.

The Firebirds (0-1) put forth a valiant effort in the second half, outscoring their guests 49-48 in the period led by Jones' 15 points and Kilo's 14. At one point, UDC cut a 24-point deficit to 15 with a 9-0 run capped by a Jones three-pointer, but that was as close as the home team would get all day.

District of Columbia is back in action on Saturday, November 16th when the Firebirds host East Stroudsburg at 3 p.m.