UDC Men’s Basketball Suffers 77-64 Loss to Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA – The University of the District of Columbia men's basketball team was defeated by host Philadelphia University, 77-64 in the final game of the Conference Challenge Tournament Sunday afternoon at the Gallagher Center.

The Firebirds (0-2) were led offensively by senior guard Erin Senegal, who led all scorers with 24 points on 9-of-13 FG shooting, including 6-of-7 from long range. Junior transfer point guard Kasim Chandler added 16 points to go with a game-high five steals and two assists.

The Rams (2-0), meanwhile, featured four double-figure scorers, including 20 points apiece by their two forwards, Peter Alexis and TJ Huggins. Alexis added game-highs of 10 rebounds and three blocks, while Huggins was one rebound shy of a double-double with  nine, but also dished out three assists. Philadelphia's backcourt tandem of Brendan Kilpatrick and Kaison Randolph pitched in with 13 points apiece while combining for nine rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Philadelphia out-shot UDC, 46-percent (23-of-50) to 38-percent (22-of-58) from the field, and took advantage of a 26-16 foul disparity as the Rams made 29-of-38 (76-percent) from the charity stripe compared to the Firebirds' 14-of-19 (74-percent).

A three-pointer by Senegal followed by a sophomore forward Thomas Robinson layup erased an early 4-0 deficit and gave UDC its only lead of the game, 5-4 at the 17:31 mark. On the ensuing possession, a dunk by Alexis set off a 21-4 march by the Rams over the next eight minutes as Philadelphia took a commanding, 25-9 advantage at the nine-minute mark. The Rams would widen the gap to as much as 22 points after a pair of Eric Long free-throws at the 1:36 mark, but back-to-back three-pointers by Senegal cut the margin to 16 with under a minute left in the opening half. PhilaU scored the final points of the half on a dunk by Long and took a 43-25 lead into the break.

The Rams tied their largest lead of the afternoon two-and-a-half minutes into the second half after responding to a pair of Chandler free-throws with five straight points to go up 48-27. At that point, Chandler attempted to guide the Firebirds back into the game as he sparked a 15-4 Firebirds surge with six points, including a layup just past the 11-minute mark to bring UDC within 10, 52-42. PhilaU answered with an 8-2 response to up its lead to 16 as the game approached the seven-minute mark.

Trailing by 16 (60-44), the Firebirds continued to claw their way back into the game as a 14-4 run aided by five Senegal points and consecutive jump shots by junior transfer Virgil Fleming brought UDC within eight, 66-58 with 2:30 remaining in regulation. Down the stretch, however, Philadelphia made 11-of-14 from the free-throw line while the Firebirds were 0-for-4 from the field and 4-of-6 at the line. The Rams went on to win comfortably by a 13-point margin.

Next up, the Firebirds visit their cross town Division II rival Bowie State University on Wednesday, November 18^th at 7 p.m.