Prince George's Men's Basketball Comeback Falls Short At Home Against The College Of Southern Maryland

Prince George's Men's Basketball Comeback Falls Short At Home Against The College Of Southern Maryland

LARGO, Md. – Despite a 27-point, 18-rebound effort from sophomore Alex Morales (Paterson, N.JJ./Manchester Regional) and a rousing comeback attempt, Prince George's Community College falls 105-100 to the College of Southern Maryland in Maryland Junior College Athletic Conference (MD JUCO) men's basketball action on Friday.

Trailing 91-76 with 8:56 left in the game, the Owls (12-1, 3-2 MD JUCO) pressure defense turned up the heat to lead to a 21-8 run to cut the margin to 99-97 with 1:36 remaining after a Deon Savage (Washington, D.C./Theodore Roosevelt) offensive rebound and put-back layup. Savage powered the run with six points that saw six different Prince George's players score in the run.

Despite the furious comeback attempt, the Hawks scored the next four points and even though Dariel Medina (Silver Spring, Md./James H. Blake) made it a one-possession game on three free throws with 30 seconds left the Owls could not get any closer in one of the best games of the year with both teams leaving it all on the floor.

Coming off back-to-back triple-doubles in Western Pennsylvania, Morales posted his second-best scoring and rebounding efforts of the season thanks to his 27 points and 18 rebounds against the College of Southern Maryland. The sophomore connected on 10-for-17 of his shots from the floor, 1 of 3 from behind the arc and 6 of 10 from the free throw line. 

Morales now has two triple-doubles and eight double-doubles this season and three triple-doubles and 19 double-doubles for his career. It marks the 22nd time he has hauled in at least 10 boards in a game. The sophomore has posted double figures in all 14 games this season and 31 of the 39 games in his career. Morales leads the squad with 19.4 points and 11.0 rebounds per game.

Sophomore Dexter Turner (Washington, D.C./Idea Public Charter) also had a double-double, finishing with 13 points and 10 assists. The sophomore has reached double figures in points in eight-consecutive contests, 11 times in 2018-19 and 12 times in his career. Turner has registered three point-assist double-doubles this season and four 10+ assist games on the year. Turner leads the team with 7.4 assists per game and ranks third with 12.5 points per game.

Medina and Jordan Hicks (Largo, Md./Henry Wise) each added 13 points off the bench. Medina has back-to-back double-figure point games and has three 10+ games in his last six contests and four in his career. Hicks notched his fifth double-digit point game of the year.

Jalen Robinson (Bowie, Md./Bowie) added 10 points and five rebounds in his first start at Novak Field House. The sophomore has scored 10 points in his last two tilts and has three double-figure point games in 2018-19.

In the first half, the Owls used a 7-0 run to take its first lead at 15-12 thanks to a Robinson jumper and Morales layup and two free throws with 14:28 on the clock. The Hawks retook the lead at 20-17 before Morales posted the next four points for a 21-20 edge with 10:39 left in the half. The game would be tied at 23 and 25, but the Hawks took the lead and went into the locker room with a 54-50 lead.

The College of Southern Maryland extended its lead to 15 points before the Largo team tried to put on a furious comeback attempt that came up just short. 

With its nine-game winning streak halted, Prince George's looks to get back on the winning track at Howard Community College on Wednesday. Game time is 7 p.m.