Bel Air, MD – The Dragons put up a good fight against the defending conference champion Harford Fighting Owls, but ultimately fell 86-75.

Howard took an early 10-8 lead as a nice steal by Kevin Yomba (Silver Spring, MD/Paint Branch) led to a Deven Richmond (Bear, DE/DeMatha) fast break basket. Brandon Howell (Suitland, MD/Henry Wise) made a couple of free throws to make in a 14-12 Howard lead, but Harford responded with an 11-0 run. Richmond answered with back-to-back layups as the two teams exchanged momentum swings.

As Harford built up a six point lead, Jesse Calloway (Lynchburg, VA/Heritage) hit a couple of free throws followed by a splashed three pointer to bring the Dragons back. Calloway then made an old fashioned three point play and another layup after that to make it 12 points for him in the first half. Richmond made another layup in the final minute of the opening stanza and the Dragons took a 38-37 lead into the break.

Harford came out of the break with a ton of energy, jumping out on a 10-2 run. With Harford building up a nine point lead, Howard went on an 11-0 run capped off by a Howell three pointer to give Howard a 53-51 lead with 11 minutes left in the second half. Howell hit another clutch three pointer a few minutes later to make it a tied game at 60-60 as the intensity of the game continued to increase.

With five minutes left and Harford gaining momentum, Emeka Eni (Pesaro, Italy/Lewisville) hit a wide open three pointer from the top of the key to cut the Fighting Owls lead to just five. Harford came right back with a 10-0 run as the Dragons finally broke the streak with a Nathan Ferguson (Silver Spring, MD/Bethesda) fast break layup. Howell and Calloway both hit three pointers late, but Harford was able to hit enough free throws to hold on for the victory.

Calloway had 19 points and five assists while Richmond had 14 points and Howell added 12.

The Dragons will return home to face Beaver County on Saturday, December 1 at 3 PM to start a stretch of three straight home contests.