UDC Men’s Basketball Suffers Lopsided Loss vs. Franklin Pierce

MANCHESTER, NH – The University of the District of Columbia men's basketball team suffered a lopsided, 91-56 loss to Franklin Pierce in its 2^nd game of the Tip-Off Classic hosted by Southern New Hampshire University.

The Firebirds, playing two games in as many days to open the 2017-18 season this weekend, fell to 0-2 on the year with today's loss. Franklin Pierce, picked to finish 6^th of eight teams in the Northeast 10's Northeast Division, improved to 2-0 with the win.

Freshman forward Maurice Waters (14 points) and junior transfer guard Quadire Truesdale (12 points) were the only Firebirds in double-figures, while junior transfer guard Kevin Cox registered game-highs of 11 rebounds and three blocked shots to go with seven points scored.

The Ravens featured five double-figure scorers, including four of their five starters. Falu Seck led all scorers with 18 points on 7-of-14 FG shooting (2-of-5 from three-point range), and Asante Sandiford registered a double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds.

Early on it looked as though the Firebirds could keep pace with the Ravens, forcing three ties within the first three minutes, and grabbing three different three-point leads within the first eight minutes of play. A Waters jump shot at 12:42 put UDC in front, 14-11, but it was all Franklin Pierce after that.

Beginning with a Seck jump shot at 11:45, the Ravens scored seven straight points as part of a 17-2 run that catapulted them ahead, 28-16. UDC senior guard Traevon Butler stopped the bleeding momentarily with a three-pointer which sparked a 7-2 burst by the Firebirds and cut their deficit to nine (72-63) right around the six-minute mark, but FPU went on to end the half on an 11-2 run and led 43-27 at halftime.

The Ravens opened the 2^nd half on an 8-2 surge to extend their lead to 51-29 after a Seck layup at 17:35, but UDC responded with 13 of the game's next 17 points to pull within 13, 55-42 on a Waters layup with just under 14 minutes left. At that point, however, UDC went a little over four minutes without a field goal as Franklin Pierce used a 13-1 march to pull ahead, 68-43.

FPU never let off the gas, taking its largest lead (37) of the day on a three-pointer by Trent Dixon with 33 seconds left, and ultimately winning by a final of 91-56.

Next up, UDC travels to Nyack, NY on Wednesday, November 15^th in search of its first win of the season vs. the Nyack Warriors. Tip-off is at 7 p.m.