Senegal Leads Firebirds Past NYIT, 80-65

OLD WESTBURY, NY – Senior guard Erin Senegal scored 13 of his team-high 27 points during a 22-7 Firebirds run during the final eight minutes of the game, as the University of the District of Columbia men's basketball team managed to stave off the New York Institute of Technology Bears, 80-65 for a pivotal East Coast Conference victory Thursday night at Recreation Hall.

Senegal shot 11-of-15 from the field and 5-of-7 from three-point range for his 2^nd highest scoring total of the season. He also registered six rebounds, game-highs of five assists and four steals, and he blocked one shot.

Also key in the UDC effort was senior forward Geran Pope's double-double performance of 13 points and 16 rebounds. Junior forward Jayone Troutman added 15 points as well.

With tonight's win, the Firebirds (14-13, 12-7 ECC) can now finish as high as 2nd place in the ECC standings with a victory in their season finale Saturday vs. LIU Post. A loss on Saturday would place UDC at either No. 4 or No. 5 depending on the result of University of Bridgeport's (11-8) final game vs. Mercy College on Saturday.

NYIT, which had four of its five starters in double-figures including Khalif Chaplin's game-high 28 points, fell to 3-24 overall (2-18 ECC). Jerrel Green added a double-double of 12 points and a game-high 17 rebounds.

The Firebirds out-shot the Bears 51-percent to 33-percent from the field and 41-percent to 19-percent from three-point range. They also had five more assists (16-11) and two fewer turnovers (17-15).

Pope had the first bucket of the night about 40 seconds in as the Firebirds never trailed the entire game. Pope would go on to score UDC's first six points, and Senegal's first basket of the night put UDC up 8-4 at 16:45.

Later, a layup by UDC's Thomas Robinson extended the Firebirds' lead to 18-11 when four straight Bears points closed the gap to 18-15 just past the nine-minute mark. At that point, however, UDC took the game over. Beginning with a 1-of-2 trip at the foul line by Pope, the Firebirds used a 24-6 surge in a little under seven minutes to double-up NYIT for their largest lead of the game, 42-21. Junior forward Joseph Nickerson, junior reserve guard Virgil Fleming, and Senegal each made a three-point field goal during this stretch, and UDC would take a 44-28 halftime lead.

NYIT came out aggressive in the 2^nd half, out-scoring UDC 21-9 in a little over seven minutes of play to shrink the Firebirds' lead to four, 53-49. Still only a five-point Firebirds lead at the 10:35 mark, NYIT scored five straight points and forced the first tie of the 2^nd half (2^nd of the game) at 58 on a Chaplin three-pointer at 8:14. Senegal broke the tie with a three-pointer at 7:24, and then broke the 3^rd and final tie at 61 with a jumper at 6:55.

Another Chaplin three-pointer at 4:40 made it a one-point game, 65-64, but back-to-back three-pointers by junior guard Reggie Sidbury and Senegal increased UDC's lead to seven, 71-64, with 2:29 to play. Those two three-pointers also kicked off a 15-1 run to end the game, with Senegal scoring eight points during that stretch. The Firebirds went on to win comfortably by a 15-point margin.

Next up, UDC will battle ECC foe LIU Post on Saturday, February 27^th at 3:30 p.m.