Firebirds Pull Away Late for 3rd Straight Win, 102-92 vs. Dowling

WASHINGTON, DC – The University of the District of Columbia men's basketball team defeated Dowling College, 102-92 for its 3^rd straight East Coast Conference victory Wednesday night in our nation's capital.

With tonight's win, UDC improves to 12-11 overall and 10-5 in league play, as the Firebirds will now have a pivotal ECC road contest Saturday afternoon vs. University of Bridgeport (9-4 ECC). Dowling fell to 10-12 overall and 6-9 in league play with its 3^rd straight loss.

Five Firebirds scored in double-figures, including tonight's dynamic backcourt duo of Kasim Chandler and Traevon Butler with 23 points apiece. Chandler also handed out a game-high eight assists, while Butler registered four rebounds, three assists and two steals to go with his career-high point total. Butler, a sophomore who had not scored in double-figures during his career entering this week, has now scored 20 or more points in back-to-back games.

Junior transfer forward Jayone Troutman and junior transfer guard Martin Campbell gave the Firebirds a spark off the bench, as Troutman made 7-of-8 FG for 14 points and hauled in seven rebounds while Campbell added 10 points, a team-high eight rebounds, and two assists. Meanwhile, starting forward Joseph Nickerson padded his stats with 11 points, six assists, two rebounds, two steals and one blocked shot.

Dowling was led offensively by forwards Evan Maxwell and Chris Millender. Maxwell registered a game-high 25 points, eight rebounds and six assists, and Millender posted a double-double of 24 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots.

Both teams shot red-hot from the field and behind-the-arc, with Dowling owning a slight edge in FG percentage (55-percent to 53-percent) and 3-pt. FG percentage (46-percent to 43-percent). However, the Firebirds had eight more assists (25-17) and an equal number of turnovers (11), shot 11-of-12 (92-percent) at the free-throw line compared to Dowling's 6-of-14 (43-percent), and won the rebounding battle, 36-32. Also, UDC's bench out-scored Dowling's 32-14, and the Firebirds had six more points scored off of turnovers (23-17).

Millender scored seven points in the first 2:34 to help the Golden Lions race out to an early 13-4 lead –their largest of the night. Butler and Chandler then brought UDC back in the game with three consecutive three-pointers as Chandler dished to Butler for the first, and Butler found Chandler for the next two. Nickerson added a layup at 14:20 to cap an 11-4 run, and UDC trailed only by two, 17-15. Dowling would out-score UDC 9-5 over the next three minutes though, and the Golden Lions upped their lead back to six, 26-20.

Still a 34-28 Dowling lead just past the eight-minute mark, Nickerson knocked down a trey to jump-start a 13-1 Firebirds surge that propelled UDC on top for the first time, 41-35 approaching three minutes. Dowling responded with a 7-0 run, capped by a Vincent Abbandola three-pointer at the two-minute mark to regain the lead for the Golden Lions, 42-41. But back to work went Butler and Chandler with crisp passing and precise long-range shooting, both assisting to each other on a three-pointer each during what amounted to an 11-6 Firebirds spurt to end the half. Senior reserve guard Omar Abbas entered the game for the final possession and buried a three-pointer in the corner off of yet another assist by Chandler, and UDC led 52-48 at halftime.

The Firebirds extended their lead to 59-52 with a 7-2 run in the first two minutes of the 2^nd half, but Dowling closed the gap to two with a 5-0 run over the next two minutes. Later, at the 11:36 mark, Ali Mableton's layup brought Dowling within one, 68-67, but a layup by Nickerson kicked off an 8-0 run by UDC that put the Firebirds up 76-67 just past the 10-minute mark.

UDC fended off yet another Golden Lion advance when Myron Hickman's five straight points made it 76-75 at the 7:50 mark, as Butler converted a three-point play on a driving layup and a free-throw, and Troutman and Chandler added a layup each to complete a 7-0 run to give the Firebirds an 83-75 lead at 5:49. Still up 83-80 with 4:27 to play, the Firebirds put the game out of reach with an 11-1 spell, culminating in an emphatic, two-handed slam by Troutman with just under two minutes remaining and the Firebirds up 94-81.

UDC went on to make 8-of-8 at the foul line in the final 1:06, as they won the game by a 10-point margin.