Firebirds Battle to Beat Mercy, 74-71; Snap Road Losing Streak

DOBBS FERRY, NY – In an East Coast Conference battle that featured eight ties and 10 lead changes, the University of the District of Columbia men's basketball team persevered on the road to beat Mercy College, 74-71 on Saturday afternoon.

This win snaps UDC's 34-game losing streak away from the UDC Sports Complex (including away and neutral games) and marks the Firebirds' first road victory since February 15^th, 2012. The win also improved UDC's league record to 4-6 (4-14 overall) and moves the Firebirds into 6^th place in the ECC standings. Mercy, meanwhile, has now lost five straight games as they sit in last place in the league standings with a record of 1-9 (6-10 overall).

The Firebirds were led by three guards in double-figures scoring, including senior Quasim Jones (Media Arts – Philadelphia, PA/Johnson CC), freshman Kory Cooley (Art – Silver Spring, MD/Calvin Coolidge HS) and junior transfer Erin Senegal (Political Science – Lafayette, LA/Caldwell). Jones shot just 3-of-11 from the field but made a perfect 10-of-10 at the free-throw line to tie for the team scoring high of 17 points while also handing out a game-high four assists. Cooley shot 8-of-17 from the field to finish with 16 points and Senegal came off the bench to shoot 6-of-10 from the field for 17 points.

Meanwhile, forwards Clenso Brannon III (Graphic Design – Washington, DC/College of Southern Maryland) and Geran Pope (Political Science – Washington, DC/Virginia Union) cleaned up the boards with 11 and 12 rebounds, respectively.

Mercy was led by guard Jeremiah Brown with a game-high 24 points on 6-of-11 FG shooting (3-of-5 from long range) and 9-of-10 from the free-throw line. Forward Gerland McClease also posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

UDC out-shot Mercy 46-percent to 40-percent from the field and out-rebounded the Mavericks, 39-35. The Firebirds also more than doubled-up Mercy, 30-14 in bench points. The Mavericks, however, had two fewer turnovers (17-15), cashed in for 25 points off of UDC's mistakes, and they turned 12 offensive rebounds into 14 second-chance points compared to just six second-chance points by UDC.

Kooley scored the Firebirds' first eight points of the game and freshman forward Andre Williams (Business Management – Maybrook, NY/Valley Central HS) knocked down two consecutive jump shots to lift UDC to an early 12-6 lead nearly five minutes into the action. UDC led 17-13 following a Reggie Sidbury three-pointer at the 11-minute mark, but Mercy scored the game's next five points to take its first lead of the game on a McClease free-throw, 18-17 with 8:30 to play in the first half. Senegal responded for the Firebirds with a layup and a three-pointer in back-to-back possessions, and Pope capped the 7-0 run with a layup as well to put UDC ahead 24-18 at the 6:42 mark. Later a Senegal three-pointer would give the Firebirds their largest lead of the game,(34-27, with 1:28 left, and UDC would wind up taking a 34-29 lead into halftime.

Mercy, which had won the previous two meetings against UDC on its home floor, came out strong to start the second half. The Mavericks out-scored UDC 15-6 in the opening four-and-a-half minutes of play and took a 42-40 lead after a pair of free-throws by Matthew Boyd.

The rest of the game featured a see-saw battle that saw the two ECC foes exchange leads seven more times and collide for five more ties. A three-pointer by Senegal put UDC in front 62-60 near the five-minute mark, but Brown answered with a three-pointer to put Mercy ahead, 63-62 at the 4:37 mark. On the ensuing possession, Jones drove into the lane and converted a layup to put the Firebirds ahead to stay, 64-63 with 4:13 remaining. Jones would also make 4-of-4 free-throws down the stretch while the team made 8-of-12 collectively to hang on for a three-point victory.

Next up, UDC will visit ECC foe LIU Post in Brookville, NY on Thursday, January 29^th at 7:30 p.m.