Men’s Basketball Closes Out 2022 With 91-80 Win Over NOVA

The Prince George's Community College men's basketball team wrapped up the first half of their season on Wednesday, December 14^th as the Owls picked up a 91-80 win over NOVA's Nighthawks inside Novak Field House. Prince George's 91 points is the second-highest scoring output for the team thus far. The Owls are now winners of three straight and head into the winter break with an 8-2 record under first year head coach Terrell Harris.

Four different Owls scored in double-figures during the back-and-forth battle which featured 6 ties and 9 lead changes. Prince George's started slow out of the gate, managing only 2 points in the first 3:40 of action to NOVA's 9 before the team got hot, piecing together a 23-2 run that spanned over six minutes of game time. Highlighting the Owls run was back-to-back-to-back threes at one point to jump in front of the Nighthawks for their first lead. NOVA was able to get going offensively as well while they trimmed the Owls lead all the way down to one with a layup at the buzzer to send Prince George's into halftime with a slim 41-40 lead. 

The Owls failed to capitalize on opportunities early in the second half as NOVA took control and found themselves up by 8, 64-56, with 12 minutes to play. Prince George's moved their focus to the easier shot and getting to the line as they went on another big run, this time a 19-2 stretch that lasted almost 8 minutes and put the Owls up by 11, 77-66. Both Anthony Perry and Elijah Crawford had dunks in transition during the 17-point swing run that sparked their team and primed the Owls defense to close out the Nighthawks down the final stretch. Prince George's held NOVA in check over the closing minutes to seal the victory and head into the break on a high note.

Perry and Crawford both finished with 17 points to lead the Owls in scoring while the latter set a new personal season-high in blocks with 5. Crawford picked up his third double-double of the year after also collecting 10 rebounds and currently ranks 8^th in the nation with 2.3 blocks averaged per game. Deonte Cooke added 16 for the Owls while Dajuan McMillan rounded out the double-digit scorers with 15.

Prince George's will enjoy some time off before regrouping for the second half of the season which begins against Community College of Allegheny County in Novak on January 4^th to kick off a full month which features 11 games for the Owls, including three Region 20 Division 3 contests which will help determine postseason seeding.