League-Leading Lions Deal District of Columbia 73-55 Loss

OAKDALE, NY – Just a seven point game at halftime, the University of the District of Columbia men's basketball team allowed the top team in the East Coast Conference, Dowling, to pull away in the second half as the Firebirds were dealt a 73-55 loss on the road Saturday afternoon.

Junior transfer forward Lenjo Kilo (Biology – Silver Spring, MD/Seton Hill) registered game-highs of 24 points and 17 rebounds for his 5^th double-double of the season to lead UDC. Junior transfer guard Prince Ritson (Psychology – Greenbelt, MD/Bowie St.) also added 14 points.

Dowling (15-3, 9-1 ECC), which has won five of its last six games, was led offensively by junior guard Darien Davis (22 points, five rebounds) and senior forward Justin Alexander (16 points, 13 rebounds).

Kilo had seven of the Firebirds' first 14 points, helping UDC snag an early 14-10 lead after he completed a conventional three-point play at the 12:32 mark. Later, his layup at the 9:25 mark gave UDC its last lead of the day, 19-17, but the league-leading Lions seized control of the game with a 12-0 run, culminating in a dunk by Austin Corwin to put Dowling up, 29-19 with 6:10 to play. The Lions still led by 10 when sophomore guard Omar Abbas (Electrical Engineering – Alexandria, Egypt/Egyptian American HS) buried a three-pointer at the buzzer to make it a seven point game (39-32) at halftime.

Dowling wasted little time in building a 15-point cushion, starting the second half on an 11-3 run, essentially putting the game away. UDC never got any closer than 11 after that, as the Golden Lions cruised to 73-55 victory.

The Golden Lions outshot the Firebirds 46-percent to 31-percent from the field and won the rebounding battle, 46-33. Also, Dowling distributed the ball much better with 16 assists compared to just four by UDC.

The Firebirds (3-12, 1-8 ECC) will look to snap their five-game losing streak as they visit ECC foe Mercy on Wednesday, January 30^th at 7:30 p.m.