Firebirds Boast Nine Scorers in Victory over Wildcats

Washington, DC- The University of the District of Columbia's men's basketball team defeated Wilmington University 91-72 to claim their first victory of the new year, on Monday evening at the UDC Gymnasium. With this win the Firebirds improved to a 6-9 overall record while the Wildcats fell to 3-10.

UDC had nine players make it onto the scoresheet and four scorers in the double figures. Leading the pack was Aaren Smith with a season high 23 points going 10-14 from the field and 3-5 from the three-point line.  He was followed up by teammate Juanye Colon with 20 points, Cheyenne Nettleton with 18 and Zachary Olukanni with 12. 

It was a slow start for both teams as neither teams were able to score for the first two minutes. A layup by Olukanni at 17:58 put the Firebirds on the board first. With both teams playing full court press the match up became intense with the score staying within seven points of each other up until the last four minutes of the first half. UDC was able to pull away with a lead of 47-36 going into half time. 

The Firebirds came back to outscore the Wildcats 44-36 going 47.1% from the field while holding Wilmington to 43.8%. Smith exploded with 17 points going 3-4 at the three-point line while Colon put up 14 going 2-3 from the three. 

Freshman guard Karlos Roberts went 1-1 at the three-point line and 1-2 from the field to score three points. Other featured scorers were Jahmir Marable Williams with seven points, Consolo Adams with four and Quran Dublin and Isaiah Robinson with two apiece. 

Next up the Firebirds will head to New York on Saturday January 11^thto face off against ECC foe Mercy College at 2:00pm.