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| Michael Terry led all players with 27 points |
From our friends at UDC Athletics...
UDC Men’s Basketball Drops Heartbreaker to Mercy, 79-77 on Senior Night
The University of the District of Columbia men's basketball team suffered a heart-breaking, 79-77 defeat vs. East Coast Conference foe Mercy in their home season finale Thursday night at the UDC Sports Complex.
The game looked destined for overtime
when Mercy's Najee Senior's jump shot rimmed out with about five seconds
remaining and UDC freshman forward Andre Williams
secured the rebound right in front of the net. But following his missed
shot, Senior came charging in, batted the ball out of Williams' hands
and was fouled as he immediately attempted to put up a shot with .5
seconds remaining in regulation. Senior went on to sink both shots at
the free-throw line, and UDC was unable to get a shot off before the
horn on the subsequent possession as the Mavericks snuck away the
two-point victors.
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| The foul that wasn't called... |
The loss drops UDC to 5-22 overall (5-14
ECC), with this being the eighth single-digit defeat (third by a
two-point margin) of the season. Mercy, which evened the season series
vs. UDC with tonight's win, improved to 8-18 overall and 3-17 in league
play.
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| Quasim Jones led all players with 7 assists |
The Firebirds shot a red-hot 48-percent
from three-point range while making 11-of-23 from behind-the-arc led by
star senior guard Michael Terry's
six treys in his final UDC home game. Terry (Criminal Justice -
Philadelphia, PA/Boston U) shot 9-of-15 from the field and 3-of-3 at the
free-throw line to finish with a game-high 27 points. Point guard Quasim Jones
(Media Arts - Philadelphia, PA/Johnson CC) was also impressive in his
final Firebird home game, registering 13 points, a game-high seven
assists, five rebounds and two steals.
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| Andre Williams (#12) led all players with 8 rebounds & 3 steals |
Mercy, however, out-shot UDC 55-percent
(29-of-53) to 44-percent (24-of-54) from the field and 89-percent
(16-of-18) to 75-percent (18-of-24) from the free-throw line. The
Mavericks also had three fewer turnovers (13-10) and seven more points
off of turnovers (21-14), and they outscored UDC 38-24 in the paint.
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| Reggie Sidbury started and scored 3 points |
All five Mercy starters scored in
double-figures, including a team-high 17 points by both forward Gerald McClease and guard Jason Quijada. Forward Lazaro Martinez added 16
points, and Najee Senior finished with 10, including the game-winning
pair of free-throws.
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| Geran Pope (#34) scored 5 points off the bench |
The Mavericks opened the game on a 9-0 run and led 17-5 after a McClease layup near the 14-minute mark. Terry, sophomore guard Reggie Sidbury and junior guard Omar Abbas
each knocked down a three-pointer during a 15-6 Firebirds surge that
culminated in a conventional three-point play on an and-one layup by
junior forward Geran Pope
to bring UDC within two, 23-21 just past the nine-minute mark. Still
trailing 27-23 past the seven-minute mark, Terry buried another
three-pointer and Jones followed with a layup to give UDC its first lead
of the night at the 5:33 mark, 28-27. Mercy would go on to out-score
UDC 10-4 to close out the half, and took a 37-32 lead at intermission.
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| Clenso Brannon III (#2) grabbed 6 rebounds |
Almost five minutes into the second
half, Mercy extended its lead to nine (50-41) after a pair of
free-throws by Senior and a layup by Quijada, but the Firebirds fought
back to even the score at 53 with a 12-3 run that culminated in
back-to-back three-pointers by Andre Williams and Quasim Jones. Later,
following a Terry three-pointer to force another tie at 58, junior
reserve guard Erin Senegal
knocked down a pair of free-throws to give UDC its first lead of the
second half, 60-58 with 11:25 remaining. Later, Quijada single-handedly
both tied the game at 62 with a jump shot and then put the Mavericks
back in front, 65-62 with a three-pointer at the 9:22 mark. This
contributed to an 11-3 Mercy run that put the Mavericks on top, 69-63
with the game approaching eight minutes.
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| Prince Ritson bid adieu with 5 points & 2 rebounds |
Again, UDC fought its way back with a
12-4 run, culminating in two consecutive three-pointers by Terry - the
second of which, put UDC in front, 75-73 with 3:31 remaining. On the
ensuing Mercy possession, though, McClease sank a pair of free-throws to
tie the score at 75, and after over two minutes of scoreless
basketball, Quijada gave Mercy back the lead, 77-75 with 56 seconds
left.
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| Great fan support |
Following a Mercy timeout, an offensive
rebound helped keep UDC's possession alive before Jones drove hard to
the hoop for an easy layup to knot the score again at 77 with 38 seconds
remaining. This, however, only set the tone for Najee Senior's steal
and subsequent free-throws. With only .5 seconds remaining, UDC
inbounded to Terry who worked quickly past the timeline, and tried to
draw a foul with a half-court heave, but the official ruled that time
had expired before the shot attempt and no foul was called.
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| Cutest ticket agent ever! |
The Firebirds will wrap up the 2014-15 season on the road at St. Thomas Aquinas on Saturday, February 28th.
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| Lenjo Kilo (r) and his fan posse |
Click here for yesterday's box score.
