UDC Suffers Heartbreaking Overtime Loss at Chestnut Hill

PHILADELPHIA – The Firebirds overcame a 15-point halftime deficit in the second half vs. Chestnut Hill, only to lose in overtime, 99-97, on a pair of free-throws with five seconds remaining in a thrilling non-conference game at Sorgenti Arena Saturday afternoon.

Freshman guard Kory Cooley (Art –Silver Spring, MD/Calvin Coolidge HS) led all scorers with a season-high tying 28 points as he shot 9-of-14 from the field (5-for-8 from three-point range). Senior guard Michael Terry (Criminal Justice – Philadelphia, PA/Boston U) also added a season-high 24 points as he shot only 5-of-20 from the field but 12-of-16 from the free-throw line, and he added a team-high nine rebounds and three assists. Senior point guard Quasim Jones (Mass Media Arts – Philadelphia, PA/Johnson CC) dished out a game-high nine assists and added 11 points and three steals.

The Firebirds were the much more efficient offensive team with 18 assists to just 10 turnovers, while CHC turned it over 21 times to 20 assists.

Chestnut Hill (1-4), which did out-shoot UDC, 54-percent to 41-percent from the field and out-rebound the Firebirds, 45-37, featured six double-figure scorers. The Griffins were led offensively by forward Filip Sekulic, who registered 19 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Fellow interior players Edward McWade and Seamus Radtke scored 18 and 16 points, respectively, and combined for eight rebounds. Also, reserve guard Billy Cassidy shot 6-of-11 from the field (5-of-10 from three-point range) to post 17 points, and Luke Dickson and Christian Walck each added 11 points.

A back-and-forth contest early on, the Griffins distanced themselves with an 11-0 run to take a 19-7 lead after a pair of Walck free-throws near the 10-minute mark. CHC still led 27-16 with under eight minutes left in the first half when the Griffins used a 7-1 spurt to take their largest lead of the day, 36-17. Chestnut Hill would take a 15-point cushion, 44-29, into the intermission.

Freshman guard/forward Andre Williams (Business Management – Maybrook, NY/Valley Central HS) converted a layup for the first points of the second half, but CHC scored the game's next four points to extend its lead to 48-31 and forcing a UDC timeout at the 18-minute mark.

Following the timeout, UDC began to make a push to get back into the game, slicing the lead to 10 with a 9-2 run, highlighted by a Cooley three-pointer and a Terry dunk. Then, after the Griffins pushed their lead back up to 14, Cooley made three consecutive three-point field goals to help the Firebirds stay within 10, 59-49.

Still a 13-point Chestnut Hill lead at the eight-minute mark, Cooley scored seven consecutive Firebirds points followed by two consecutive buckets by junior forward Geran Pope (Political Science – Washington, DC/Virginia Union), as UDC pulled within four, 74-70 courtesy of an 11-2 surge. The Griffins quickly upped its lead to nine with five consecutive points, but then the Firebirds came all the way back to tie the score at 82 with a feverish 12-3 run which featured a three-pointer apiece by Jones and sophomore guard Reggie Sidbury (Social Work – Landover, MD/Charles Herbert Flowers HS). Sidbury's three-pointer, his only one of the game, tied the score at 82 with only 48 seconds to play. Twice more, the Griffins took two-point leads only to have the Firebirds force a tie with their next possession. Following a pair of made free-throws by Terry with 10 seconds remaining, Walck missed a layup at the buzzer, which sent the game to overtime, tied at 86..

In the overtime session, UDC missed its first two shots from the field (both three-point attempts) while Chestnut Hill reached the free-throw line in both of its first two possessions and made 3-of-4 from the stripe to take an 89-86 lead. After a third failed offensive possession by UDC, Cooley picked Dickson's pocket and fed to Terry, who was fouled in the act of shooting and sent to the free-throw line where he made 1-of-2.

Later, following a McWade layup, UDC took its first lead of the game since the 16:29 mark of the first half as Jones made a layup and Terry knocked down a clutch three-pointer to put UDC up, 92-91 at the 2:10 mark. That lead lasted all of eight seconds as Demetrius Isaac converted a pair of free-throws to put CHC back up, 93-92. UDC forced three more ties as Terry and freshman guard Masner Beauplan (Business Management – East Orange, NJ/Winslow Township HS) combined to make 5-of-6 from the free-throw line. Masner's pair of free-throws at the 14-second mark evened the score at 97-all.

But on the final Chesnut Hill possession of the game, Christian Walck drew a foul by senior guard PrinceDylannova Ritson (Psychology – Greenbelt, MD/Bowie St.), and he sank both shots at the line with only five seconds remaining to put the Griffins in front to stay, 99-97.

Michael Terry drove to the basket and tried to force a second overtime with a layup attempt, but it rimmed out as Chestnut Hill prevailed by a slim margin.

UDC fell to 0-6 on the season with the loss. The Firebirds will return home to the nation's capital to host non-region foe Alderson-Broaddus on Wednesday, December 3^rd.