Hicks-Scrivner Tandem Powers Second-Half Rally To Lead Prince George's Men's Basketball Past Chesapeake

LARGO, Md. – Jordan Hicks (Largo, Md./Henry Wise) and Tunde Scrivner (Washington, D.C./H.D. Woodson) combined to score 36 of their 55 points in the second half to help seventh-ranked Prince George's Community College rally past Chesapeake College 93-76 in Maryland JUCO men's basketball action on Saturday.

With the win, the Owls (19-4, 10-4 MD JUCO) clinch the No. 4 seed in the Maryland JUCO Tournament that begins on Friday, February 15. Prince George's will face the fifth-seed Cecil College. Game time to be announced. The victory also gave the Owls 10 league wins for the first time since the 2012-13 season.

After scoring five points in the first half, Scrivner poured on 22 second-half points to finish the game with game-high 27 points. He has scored double figures in 22 of the 23 games this season including seven 20-point performances and five tilts with at least 25 points. The freshman added six rebounds, four steals and three assists. Scrivner has registered at least five boards 11 times in his freshman campaign. Averaging 20.4 points per game in his last 10 games, the freshman ranks second on the team with 18.1 points per game.

Hicks had four points in the first stanza and then added 14 points in the final frame to finish with a career-high 18 points. Hicks got all of his points from inside the arc, connecting on all nine of his shots from inside the 3-point line. Hicks, who is averaging 15.0 points per game in his last two games, now has seven double-figure point games this season while he bested his career best of 16 points he established in his collegiate debut against Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology on November 2.  The freshman added a career-high five assists and five rebounds, marking the fourth time this season he has hauled in at least five boards in a game.

Alex Morales (Paterson, N.J./Manchester Regional) stuffed the stat sheet with 14 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists, five steals and one block. Morales has posted a double-double 11 times in his last 12 games and has 16 double-doubles this season. He has dished out at least five assists 15 times this year. It is the 12 time this season Morales has posted at least 10 points, 10 rebounds and five assists and the sixth time he has had at least 10 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and five steals. The sophomore leads the team with 19.3 points and 11.6 rebounds per game. He ranks third in the NJCAA Division III in steals (90), fourth in rebounding and fourth in steals per game (3.7).

Jalen Robinson (Bowie, Md./Bowie) added 12 points in the winning effort. Robinson reached double figures for the seventh time this season and the fifth time since joining the starting lineup.

Trailing 40-31 with 51 seconds left in the first half, Prince George's used a 42-18 run to take control of the game at 73-58 with 8:11 left. Hicks gave the Owls the lead for good on a jumper with 16:47 left while the key part of the run was a 12-0 run to extend a  54-52 lead to 64-52 after Morales went to the bench due to foul trouble. Scrivner powered the 12-0 spurt with eight points while Scriver (17 points), Robinson (12 points) and Hicks (10 points) were key cogs in the 42-18 surge to help the Largo program go on for a 93-76 victory.

The first half seemed to be Prince George's chasing the Skipjacks with the Owls only holding the lead three times in the first 20 minutes. Chesapeake used a 12-0 run with the hosts leading 31-29 to take its largest lead at 40-31 with 51 seconds left in the first half. Robinson scored the final five points of the stanza to send Prince George's to the locker room, trailing 40-36. The Owls then used a 57-36 final frame to go on for the win.

Dexter Turner (Washington, D.C./Idea Public Charter) added seven points, 10 assists and five rebounds. The sophomore has dished out 10 assists seven times this season and has 167 assists on the year. He ranks seventh in NJCAA Division III in assists per game (7.3) and eighth in assists.

Deon Savage (Washington, D.C./Woodrow Wilson) had himself a game as well, tallying nine points and career highs with eight rebounds and six blocks in the winning effort. 

The squad finished the regular season 12-1 at home. The Owls will look to avenge a 75-61 loss on the road at Cecil on January 30 in the first round of the Maryland JUCO Tournament, but this game will be on the neutral court at Hagerstown Community College. Prince George's won the conference tournament two years ago when Morales, Turner, Moetaz Ashkar (Landover Hills, Md./Parkdale) and Dariel Medina (Silver Spring, Md./James H. Blake) were freshmen.

The outcome of the Maryland JUCO Tournament does not affect the NJCAA Region XX Division III Tournament on the weekend of February 23-24 hosted by Prince George's Community College. Prince George's will be the No. 1 seed for the region tournament.