Firebirds Drop 3rd Straight at Daemen

AMHERST, NY – The University of the District of Columbia men's basketball team dropped its 3^rd straight game at Daemen, 102-74, in East Coast Conference play from the Lumsden Gymnasium Friday night.

The Firebirds fell to 4-17 overall and 4-9 in league play while the Wildcats (3^rd in the league standings) bounced back from a 93-83 loss at Queens last week and improved to 15-6 overall and 10-3 in the ECC.

Senior guard Michael Terry (Criminal Justice – Philadelphia, PA/Boston U) led all UDC scorers with 23 points on 8-of-17 FG shooting (5-of-10 from long range) and hauled in a team-high seven rebounds. His backcourt counterpart, freshman Kory Cooley (Art – Silver Spring, MD/Calvin Coolidge HS) registered 21 points on 9-of-16 FG shooting, handed out three assists and had two blocked shots.

Meanwhile, the Wildcats were led by ECC Preseason Player of the Year Gerald Beverly with a game-high 27 points (11-of-14 FG shooting), five rebounds, five blocked shots and four steals. Three other Wildcat starters scored in double-figures as the hosts shot a blistering 57.5-percent from the field and won the rebounding battle, 42-30. Daemen was also the more efficient offense with 23 assists and only nine turnovers compared to UDC's 14 assists and 13 turnovers.

Torrency Dyck (17 points) scored four early points to help the Wildcats race out to an 11-2 lead a little over two minutes in. UDC closed within three, 15-12 after a 10-4 run culminating in a three-pointer by sophomore guard Reggie Sidbury (Social Work – Landover, MD/Charles Herbert Flowers HS), and it still remained only a four-point game, 23-19 with 11 minutes left in the first half. At that point, however, Daemen erupted for a 13-0 run in less than a five-minute span, and took a 36-19 lead on a three-pointer by Aaron Davis (10 points). The Wildcats would lead 52-34 at halftime.

Daemen out-scored UDC 13-6 in the first six minutes  of the second half to take a commanding, 65-40 lead. The Firebirds never got any closer than 17 the rest of the way, as Daemen coasted to a 28-point victory, 102-74.

Next up, UDC completes its five-game road stretch with a Sunday afternoon game at Roberts Wesleyan. Tip-off is at 4 p.m.