Sunday, November 23, 2014

Men's Basketball: Nyack 74 UDC 60

Geran Pope led UDC with 18 points & 9 rebounds

From our friends at UDC Athletics...

UDC Downed by Nyack, 74-60

The University of the District of Columbia men's basketball team was defeated by regional foe Nyack, 74-60 on Saturday afternoon at the UDC Sports Complex.

The Firebirds (0-4) were led offensively by junior forward Geran Pope (Political Science - Washington, DC/Virginia Union), who was one rebound shy of his 3rd double-double of the season with team-highs of 18 points and nine rebounds. Pope shot 8-of-10 from the field and added two steals defensively. Also, freshman guard Kory Cooley (Art - Silver Spring, MD/Calvin Coolidge HS) came off the bench to register nine points and four rebounds.

Frosh Masner Beauplan scored 8 points

Nyack (2-1) won its second straight game thanks in large part to outstanding efforts by forward Nick Moore and guard Chris Hampton. Moore had game-highs of 24 points and 14 rebounds while Hampton shot 7-of-8 from the field (3-of-4 from long range) and finished with 20 points.

Prince Ritson tallied 4 points & 2 steals

While neither team shot well from three-point range or the free-throw line, the Warriors outshot UDC 55-percent to 37-percent from the field and had a 37-32 edge in rebounds.

Kory Cooley (#20) added 9 points off the bench

Moore and Hampton combined for Nyack's first 11 points of the game as the Warriors game-opening charge led to an early 11-3 lead nearly five minutes into the action. Two consecutive conventional three-point plays on and-one layups by Pope helped UDC stay within seven, 17-10 just past the 12-minute mark, once again Moore and Hampton scored four points apiece during an 8-0 run to extend Nyack's lead to 25-11 at the nine-minute mark. The Warriors went on to take a 15-point lead into halftime, 38-23.

Michael Terry (#15) was held to 3 points

UDC kept pace with Nyack for the first eight minutes of the second half, with Pope converting consecutive layups to help the Firebirds pull within 11(50-39) at the 12:24 mark. But Nyack would use a 9-0 surge, highlighted by a Phil Guglielmo three-pointer, and take its largest lead of the afternoon, 59-39 with just under nine minutes to play. The Firebirds would never get any closer than nine points the rest of the way, as Nyack went on to win by a 14-point margin.

Reggie Sidbury (5 PTS, 4 boards & 2 dimes)

The Firebirds will host non-regional opponent Virginia State on Tuesday, November 25th at 7 p.m.

Mr. Pope (#34) and Omar Abbas (#4) defend

Click here for yesterday's box score.