Prince George's Men's Basketball Takes Down Frederick In Maryland JUCO Battle, 84-76

LARGO, Md. – Alex Morales (Paterson, N.J./Manchester Regional) has a been a constant this season, giving Prince George's Community College points, rebounds, assists steals and always coming up big while putting up Lebron James like numbers. The sophomore did it again on Wednesday night at Novak Field House by giving the Owls the lead for good in the first half and ending any comeback thoughts in the second half by Frederick Community College. Thanks in part to Morales' 16 points, 13 rebounds and six assists, Prince George's takes a big Maryland Junior College Athletic Conference men's basketball battle against the Cougars, 84-76.

With Frederick holding a 24-22 lead in the first half, Morales drained a triple at 9:19 to give the Owls (9-1, 3-1 MD JUCO) the lead for good. When the Cougars were making a run to try and tie the game in the second half Morales hit a basket with 8:14 and Frederick never came within a possession of the lead the rest of the way.

Morales finished the night shooting 5-for-10 from the floor, 4 of 4 from behind the arc and 2 of 4 from the charity stripe to finish with 16 points while adding 13 rebounds, six assists and two steals. The sophomore has posted double figures in all 10 games this season and 28 of the 36 games in his career. He also has five double-doubles this season and 16 for his career and has dished out at least six helpers seven times this season including the last four tilts. Morales leads the team with 19.3 points and 10.7 rebounds per game.

Dexter Turner (Washington, D.C./Idea Public Charter) continues to stay hot, finishing with 19 points and eight assists. The sophomore has posted double figures in points in his last four games and is averaging 20.3 points per game in his last three contests. Turner is coming off a career-high 25 points on Saturday against Westmoreland County Community College, but his added scoring has not changed his assist rate after handing out eight dimes for the second-straight game. The sophomore, who has eight assists in seven of the 10 games this season, is averaging 12.1 points and 7.4 assists per game in 2018-19.

Darren Rivers (District Heights, Md./DuVal) posted a career-high 16 points along with seven rebounds. Rivers made 8 of his 11 scoring chances to set a new standard that he set with 12 points against Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in the season opener. The sophomore has reached double figures in points in back-to-back games and three times in his career. He also hauled in at least five boards for the fifth time this season.

Tunde Scrivner (Washington, D.C./H.D. Woodson) was key in keeping the advantage in the second half after posting 12 of his 15 points in the final stanza. Scrivner continues to find 10 points in a game this season for the 10th time and has scoring at least 15 points in eight of 10 games on the year. He ranks second on the team with 18.0 points per game.

The first half was a seesaw battle with the two teams jockeying for the lead. With Frederick holding a 22-21 lead, Morales started a 15-6 run with a 3-pointer to give Prince George's a 36-28 lead with 3:48 left in the opening frame. Morales and Turner combined for 11 of the 15 points in the stretch. Dariel Medina (Silver Spring, Md./James H. Blake) increased the advantage to 39-31 with 2:30 left to help the Owls go into the locker room with a 39-36 lead.

Prince George's kept pushing the lead to eight points with the Cougars trying to answer, cutting the margin to three points eight minutes into the second half. Jordan Hicks (Largo, Md./Henry Wise) and Morales had the answers to keep the advantage. 

Frederick cut the lead to a possession one more time at 60-58, but Morales had the answer again to start a decisive 11-2 run to put the game away with Scrivner leading the spurt with five points in an 84-76 victory. 

Prince George's returns to action on Friday when the squad wraps up a five-game homestand against Butler County Community College in NJCAA Region XX Division III action. Tip off is 7 p.m. It will also be the last day of the New Toy Drive for Toys 4 Tots and there will be an Ugly Sweater Contest at halftime.