UDC Men’s Basketball Dealt Third Straight Loss by Queens, 91-85

WASHINGTON, DC – The University of the District of Columbia men's basketball team lost its third straight game Saturday afternoon, 91-85 vs. East Coast Conference foe, Queens College.

The Firebirds (10-9, 7-4 ECC) were led by senior guard Kasim Chandler's game-high-tying 23 ppoints, which included 11-of-13 FT shooting. Junior reserve guard Khalil Jackson also had an impactful 35 minutes played off the bench, registering a season-high 20 points, six rebounds, a game-high five blocks, and three assists. Jackson has had 11 blocked shots in the last two games.

Queens (10-9, 7-4 ECC), meanwhile, won its 4^th straight game and completed the season sweep of the Firebirds. The Knights were led by guard/forward Tyree White, who scored 23 points on 10-of-13 FG shooting and registered a game-high eight rebounds, three assists, two steals and one blocked shot. Guards Marquis Roberts and Diego Maldonado added 16 points apiece, and reserve guard Kyheim Chaplin pitched in 14 points off the bench.

The Knights out-paced the Firebirds in FG shooting both halves, including a 58-percent to 51-percent disparity in the 2^nd half, which helped them erase a one-point halftime deficit (35-34) and outscore UDC 57-50. Queens also out-rebounded UDC, 20-9 in the closing half, including six offensive rebounds that amounted to 13 2^nd-chance points.

The first half featured three ties and eight lead changes, with a lot of action right from the start. A dunk by UDC senior guard Reggie Sidbury nearly three minutes in gave the Firebirds an 8-7 lead, but over the next seven minutes, Queens out-scored UDC 14-6, taking a 21-14 lead just past the 11-minute mark on a jumper by White. The Firebirds countered with a 5-0 run to cut the deficit to two just past the nine-minute mark, and they kept that deficit between one and four points for the next seven minutes before finally breaking through to take a 33-32 lead on a pair of free-throws by junior guard Anthony Matthews at 2:29. The lead changed hands twice more, but it was Jackson's jumper with 1:53 remaining that gave UDC a 35-34 lead going into halftime.

Six more lead changes and another tie occurred in the first seven minutes of the 2^nd half, but back-to-back layups by Queens' Maldonado – one to force a 47-all tie, and the next to put the Knights up, 49-47 – put the visitors ahead to stay. The Firebirds, at one point trailing, 56-51, used a 5-0 run to knot the score at 56 at the 9:12 mark, but the Knights responded with a 7-0 march to pull ahead, 63-56. UDC never got any closer than four points the rest of the way, and Queens led by as many as 11  on a few different occasions before ultimately settling for a six-point final victory.

Next up, UDC will visit league foe Roberts Wesleyan on Wednesday, February 1^st.