Owls Knock Off Nationally Ranked Howard

The Prince George's Community College men's basketball team was back in Novak Field House on Tuesday evening, February 18^th to take on the NJCAA's 13^th ranked DII program, Howard Community College. Playing the underdog role in front of a loud home crowd, the Owls upset the Dragons, 71-62. 

The Dragons, riding a 13-game winning streak entering Tuesday's matchup, looked ready to make it 14 straight at the half after an improbable three-quarter court heave at the buzzer went in to steal the Owls momentum at the end of the first half and enter the break up six, 33-27. Prince George's was led by sophomore Teny Gakdeng at the half with 7 points and 6 rebounds.

Howard continued to roll coming out of the break, scoring 6 unanswered points to open the second half and claim their largest lead of the game at 12 points, 39-27. The Owls responded by nearly doubling up on the Dragons the rest of the way, 43-22, over the next eighteen-plus minutes which was sparked by a 7-0 run started by a Gakdeng layup.  

Prince George's caught up to Howard at the 10:36 mark to tie things up at 49 before teams swapped the lead back-and-forth over the next several minutes. Manuel Coronado, who finished a perfect 4-for-4 on the day, gave the Owls the final lead change of the contest with 5:10 to go, 62-60. The Dragons then went cold the rest of the way as Prince George's held them to only 2 points scored down the stretch while the Owls distanced themselves to complete the upset.

Prince George's used a balanced attack in the win which saw eight different Owls score on an efficient night from the floor for a collective 49% shooting percentage. Casheus Covington led the way as he finished with 14 points and 9 rebounds in a near double-double performance. Lynn King III (11 points, 4 rebounds) and Gakdeng (11 points, 9 rebounds) rounded out the leading scorers.

The Owls (11-10) stay put for their next opponent, Allegany College of Maryland, on Thursday, February 20^th at 7 PM inside Novak Field House.