UDC Comes Up Short at Queens, 88-81

FLUSHING, NY – The University of the District of Columbia men's basketball team was defeated by East Coast Conference foe Queens, 88-81 on Saturday afternoon at Fitzgerald Gym.

Senior guard Michael Terry (Criminal Justice – Philadelphia, PA/Boston U) led UDC with 23 points on 7-of-11 FG shooting (4-of-6 from three-point range) and freshman guard Kory Cooley (Art – Silver Spring, MD/Calvin Coolidge HS) pitched in 18 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Also, senior point guard Quasim Jones (Mass Media Arts – Philadelphia, PA/Johnson CC) added 15 points and a team-high five assists and junior forward Clenson Brannon III (Graphic Design – Washington, DC/College of Southern Maryland) hauled in a team-high nine rebounds.

Four of Queens' five starters scored in double-figures, including guards Jeremiah Mordi and Diego Maldonado with 26 and 22 points, respectively. Mordi also had a game-high 14 rebounds, while foreard Paul Little registered 13 to go with 17 points scored. Point guard Anthony Hodges had 10 assists and just one turnover while also registering nine points, five rebounds.

This marked the first victory of the season for the Knights as they moved to 1-10 overall and 1-3 in league play. UDC has now dropped four straight games as the Firebirds fell to 2-12 overall and 2-4 in league play.

Queens out-shot UDC 49-percent to 43-percent from the field, won the rebounding battle, 41-39, and were much more efficient offensively with 21 assists to seven turnovers compared to UDC's 10 assists and 10 turnovers.

The Firebirds actually out-shot Queens 47-percent to 40-percent from the field in the first half and took a 41-40 lead at halftime. UDC led 47-43 at the 18:32 mark in the second half following a Jones three-pointer, but a 24-10 Knights charge resulted in a 67-57 Queens lead with just under 12 minutes remaining.

Terry knocked down two three-pointers during a 12-3 Firebirds surge to cut the lead to one (70-69) with just under seven minutes to play, but Queens scored  seven of the game's next eight points to extend its lead to six, 77-71.

An and-one layup by freshman forward Andre Williams (Business Management – Maybrook, NY/Valley Central HS) pulled UDC within three (79-76) at the 1:45 mark, but that was as close as UDC would get the rest of the way. Queens went on to win comfortably by a seven-point margin.

UDC will look to snap its four-game losing streak as it visits ECC foe Bridgeport on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.