Firebirds Overcome Slow Start, Sloppy Finish for 71-66 Win vs. Queens

WASHINGTON, DC – The University of the District of Columbia men's basketball team won its 5^th straight game with a 71-66 East Coast Conference victory over Queens College on Saturday afternoon in our nation's capital.

The Firebirds, after starting the season 0-5, have now evened their overall record at 6-6, and UDC is one of only two ECC teams still unbeaten in league play at 4-0. Queens fell to 3-5 overall and 1-2 in conference play with today's loss.

Junior transfer guard Martin Campbell put on a show for the UDC Sports Complex crowd as he registered a game-high 25 points with six rebounds, three steals and a blocked shot. He shot 8-of-11 from the field (5-of-7 from long range) and 4-for-4 at the foul line. Starting junior transfer guard Virgil Fleming packed the stat sheet as well with 10 points and team-highs of eight rebounds and six assists.

Queens featured three double-figure scorers as well as a near quadruple-double by Tyree White: nine points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists and eight steals. Guard Diego Maldonado led the Knights in scoring with 12 points.

The Firebirds out-shot the Knights 50-percent to 40-percent from the field, 35-percent to 17-percent from three-point range, and 93-percent to 50-percent at the free-throw line. They also had a 40-31 rebounding advantage.

Queens managed to stay in the game courtesy of a season-high 24 turnovers by UDC and 30 points off of those turnovers by Queens, as well as a 28-14 disparity in fastbreak points favoring the Knights.

Four turnovers in the opening four minutes of action led to an early 10-2 advantage for Queens, but the Firebirds came storming back with an 11-1 run culminating in a Geran Pope layup to give UDC its first lead of the day, 13-11 at the 12:51 mark.

The see-saw battle continued as Queens answered back with a 6-0 run to pull in front 17-13 after a Malcolm Moore layup at 11:32, only to have Virgil Fleming's three-pointer at 11:11 spark a 12-2 Firebird surge capped by a Kasim Chandler layup at 5:58 to put UDC back on top, 25-19. Then, following a Maldonado three-pointer near the five-minute mark, Fleming scored the game's next seven points to give the Firebirds their largest lead of the half, 32-22 with just under three-minutes left before intermission. Queens finished the opening half on a 6-0 spurt and pulled within four, 32-28 at the break.

The two teams traded baskets at the re-start before Queens used a 5-0 push to pull within one, 36-35 at the 16:36 mark. The Firebirds responded, however, with a 5-0 run of their own and extended the lead back to six after a Martin layup at 15:56. Then, consecutive buckets by Queens made it a two-point game (41-39) at the 15-minute mark when suddenly Campbell took the game over with 11 straight points, including back-to-back-to-back three-pointers. He finished with 13 points during what amounted to a 15-2 Firebirds eruption, and UDC took its largest lead of the day, 56-41 with 9:11 remaining.

The Firebirds were then held scoreless for nearly five minutes as Queens used an 11-0 run to pull within four, 56-52. Campbell stopped the bleeding with another three-pointers and UDC went on to score seven of the game's next nine points to extend its lead to 63-54 with 2:29 left to play.

But beginning with a Simon Green layup at 2:09, Queens went on a 12-2 run to take its first lead of the 2^nd half on a pair of free-throws by Maldonado to make it 66-65 with 52 seconds remaining.

On the ensuing possession, junior transfer forward Joseph Nickerson drew a foul, and sank both free-throws to put the Firebirds back in front to stay, 67-66 with 38 seconds remaining. The Firebirds would make 6-of-6 at the line in that final 38 seconds of regulation while holding Queens to 0-for-2 from the field and a turnover in its final possession. UDC went on to win by a five-point margin of victory.

This concludes the 2015 calendar year for the Firebirds as they resume play on January 6^th with an ECC contest vs. defending ECC champion Bridgeport.