District of Columbia Competitive in Loss to Roberts Wesleyan

WASHINGTON, DC – The Firebirds placed four scorers in double-figures, including junior transfer forward Lenjo Kilo's double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds, but the University of the District of Columbia men's basketball team was defeated by Roberts Wesleyan College, 76-62 in East Coast Conference action in the nation's capital Sunday afternoon.

Kilo (Biology – Silver Spring, MD/Seton Hill), who posted his 9^th double-double of the season, shot 6-of-18 from the field and 7-of-9 from the free-throw line, and eight of his 10 rebounds were on the offensive glass.  Guards Omar Abbas (Electrical Engineering – Alexandria, Egypt/Egyptian American HS) and Reggie Sidbury (Social Work – Landover, MD/Charles Herbert Flowers HS) added 12 points apiece and freshman guard Kevin Campbell (Biology – Washington, DC/Woodrow Wilson HS) pitched in 10 points.

The Redhawks, who out-rebounded UDC 48-33 and had 14 more shot opportunities (70-56), featured three players with point-rebound double-doubles. Isaac Medeiros had game-highs of 24 points and 11 rebounds, Patrick Downer registered 15 points and 10 rebounds and Tyrel Dixon added 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Medeiros had six points within the first seven minutes of play to help Roberts Wesleyan grab an early 13-2 advantage, as the Redhawks scored the first six points of the game and never looked back. RWC led 28-14 with 6:16 left to play in the first half when the Redhawks went on a 9-1 run to take their largest lead of the afternoon, 37-15 at the 2:50 mark. The Firebirds closed out the half on a 6-0 run though, courtesy of back-to-back three-pointers by Kilo and Sidbury, and Roberts Wesleyan led by 16 at halftime.

Abbas opened the scoring in the 2^nd half with a three-pointer nearly20 seconds in, and the Firebirds later pulled within 12 (42-30) on a layup by Kilo nearing the 17-minute mark. A 7-0 run by RWC quickly had the Redhawks back up by 19 however, but UDC would still not go away. Trailing 58-38 just past the 11-minute mark, Kilo scored seven points during a 10-0 Firebirds run, which cut the lead in half, 58-48 with a little over seven minutes remaining. Again, Roberts Wesleyan responded though, this time with an 8-0 run that successfully shut the door on the Firebirds with about four minutes left in regulation. The Redhawks went on to win comfortably despite giving up eight of the final 10 points.

Next up, UDC takes on ECC foe Queens on the road, Wednesday, February 19^th at 7:30 p.m.