Morales 20th Rebound And 24th Point The Difference For Prince George's Men's Basketball In 93-92 OT Win Vs. NOVA

LARGO, Md. – Alex Morales (Paterson, N.J./Manchester Regional) had himself a monster game, but it was the last rebound and point that put Prince George's Community College over the top in a 93-92 overtime victory against Northern Virginia Community College in non-conference men's basketball action on Tuesday.

After the Nighthawks tied the game at 92 with 32 seconds left, Morales corralled an offensive rebound for his 20th board of the game and was fouled on the play with three ticks remaining in overtime. The sophomore missed the first free throw, but made the second to give the Owls (7-1) a 93-92 edge. Northern Virginia inbounds the ball and threw up a desperate heave at the buzzer, but the Largo program came away with its seventh win of the year.

Morales nearly had a triple-double finishing with 24 points, 20 rebounds, eight assists and five steals. The sophomore connected on 9 of his 19 shots and went 6 of 9 from the free throw line. The sophomore registered five points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and one steal in the first 20 minutes before tallying 19 points, 10 rebounds and four steals in the 25 minutes of the game including six points and four rebounds in the extra session.

The 20 rebounds matched a career-high for Morales, who also had 20 caroms against Navy JV on Dec. 5, 2016 while tonight's performance marked his first 20-20 game of his career. The sophomore now has three 20-point games this season and eight in his career. He has grabbed at least 15 rebounds three times this year and nine times in his career. Morales leads the team with 19.4 points and 11.5 rebounds per game. 

Dexter Turner (Washington, D.C./Idea Public Charter) also nearly finished with a triple-double after notching a career-high 17 points along with nine rebounds and nine assists. The sophomore, who reached 14 points against Pennsylvania Highlands Community College on Nov. 9 and against Hagerstown Community College six days ago, has reached double figures in points for the fifth time this season with his newly minted career best and six times in his career. He also grabbed a career-best nine rebounds while he has dished out at least nine helpers four times in 2018-19. Turner is averaging 9.6 points and 7.3 assists per game.

Tunde Scrivner (Washington, D.C./H.D. Woodson) added 16 points, five rebounds and three assists while Moetaz Ashkar (Landover Hills, Md./Parkdale) chipped in 10 points in the winning effort. Scrivner has reached double digits in points in all eight games and ranks second on the team with 18.4 points per game. Ashkar notched his second career 10+-point game after scoring a career-high 11 points against Chesapeake College on Jan. 6, 2017. 

Prince George's held the lead at halftime, but had to rally to force overtime and earn the come-from-behind victory.

Trailing 80-73 with 2:27 left in regulation, the Owls closed regulation on a 10-3 run to force OT after Morales scored in the lane with four seconds left to knot the game at 83. The sophomore scored eight of the final 10 points for Prince George's in this stretch while Scrivner added the other basket.

Morales stayed hot in the extra session with three of the first five points to stake the Owls to an 88-83 lead with 4:14 left. The Nighthawks then rolled off seven of the next nine points to tie the game at 90 with 96 seconds remaining. Scrivner and Northern Virginia traded baskets to keep the game knotted. Morales then got the clutch offensive rebound and made 1 of 2 at the line to propel the Largo program to the victory.

Ashkar scored five of the first six baskets in the game for the Owls to give the squad a 12-5 lead with 16:50 left in the first half. Prince George's increased its margin to 26-13 after a Jalen Robinson (Bowie, Md./Bowie) 3-pointer with 12:19 remaining in the stanza. With Prince George's holding a 34-23 lead, the Nighthawks scored the final seven points of the half to go into the locker room with the Owls leading 34-30.

In the second half with the game tied at 61, Northern Virginia rolled off the next five points to a 66-61 lead with 7:44 left and held a 78-71 margin with 3:06 on the clock. Morales then took over the game and improved the Largo program to 7-1 on the year.

Prince George's returns to action at home on Saturday against Westmoreland County Community College. Tipoff is 1 p.m.