Prince George's Men's Basketball Rally Falls Short Against Cecil, 91-89

LARGO, Md. – Prince George's furious comeback attempt comes up short in a 91-89 loss against Cecil College in Maryland Junior College Athletic Conference (MD JUCO) men's basketball action on Wednesday.

Mykal Johnson (Seat Pleasant, Md./Charles H. Flowers) powered the Owls (6-3, 0-2 MD JUCO) with 21 of his season-high 28 points in the final five minutes of the game. Trailing 69-54, the sophomore would lead Prince George's on a 35-21 run the rest of the way to nearly pull off an incredible comeback.

With the Owls down 84-71 with 1:23 on the clock, Johnson made two free throws. After Kennith Ford (Forrestville, Md./National College Prep) converted two free throws at 1:08, Johnson converted a traditional 3-point play to cut the margin to single digits. Paul Golder (Laurel, Md./Laurel) then trimmed the margin to 86-79 with 35 seconds remaining. Ford knocked down two charity tosses with 17 ticks left to make it an 88-81 margin. Johnson then drained a trey and then with 0.8 seconds left took a shot from beyond halfcourt that twinkled the twine to set the final score at 91-89.

Johnson scored 21 points in the closing minutes of the game by shooting 5-for-9 from the floor, 3 of 5 from behind the arc and 10 of 11 from the free throw line.

Johnson registered a season-high 28 points after connecting on 7-for-19 of his shots from the floor, 3 of 9 from behind the arc and 11 of 15 from the charity stripe. The sophomore has registered double figures in points in all nine contests this season and in 34 of 39 career games while tallying his second 20-point game this season and 14th of his career.

Ford notched a career-high 26 points and his second 20-point performance after posting 24 at Penn Highlands exactly one year ago to the day. The sophomore has scored double figures in four-straight games and six of the eight games he has played. James Hagins (Roanoke, Va./William Fleming) chipped in 11 points for his fourth 10+ game of the season.

The Seahawks (3-5, 2-1 MD JUCO) opened up a 23-13 lead with 12:04 left in the first half before Prince George's scored the next 14 points to take a 27-23 advantage. Ford had six points in this stretch, including the basket to give the Owls its first lead since opening the game with the first basket.

The Seahawks then closed the half on an 8-3 spurt to go into the locker room with a 31-30 edge. Cecil maintained the edge in the second half and extended the margin to 67-49 with 6:22 on the clock thanks to a 26-9 run after holding a 41-40 edge. Fueled by Johnson, Prince George's make a furious comeback attempt that fell short as time expired.

Gus Stone (Baltimore, Md./North County) chipped in eight points and six rebounds in the loss.

The Owls return to action on Saturday at home against Potomac State College. Game time is 4 p.m.