Annandale, VA - A huge second half surge by the Howard Dragons led them to an 83-72 victory over the Northern Virginia Nighthawks.

The Dragons scored first and never lost their lead throughout the game as they built up a 14 point lead in the first half on a monster dunk by Shane Taylor (Ellicott City, MD/Centennial). Northern Virginia began to crawl back late in the first half as they closed it to a 34-28 halftime lead for the Dragons.

The Nighthawks scored first in the second half to make it a five point game, but that would be as close as they could get as the Dragons went on a 10-0 run led by Jalen Bowie (Frederick, MD/Frederick) scoring six of those as Howard build their lead up to 24 midway through the second half. Northern Virginia answered back with an 11-0 run themselves, but the calm response by Bowie and a big three pointer by Colin Harshman (Baltimore, MD/Catonsville). The Dragons closed out the game hitting their free throws, shooting 17-20 from the line in the second half to complete the big regional win.

Bowie led the team with 19 points followed by Andrew Mills (Owings Mills, MD/New Town) with another double double at 16 points and 14 rebounds. Shane Taylor (Ellicott City, MD/Centennial) added 12 points and four assists while Emanuel Henriques (Baltimore, MD/Benjamin Franklin) and John Thomas (Baltimore, MD/Patterson) each scored 11. 

The Dragons will now prepare for arguably their toughest test of the regular season as they face off against the #3 ranked Niagara County Thunderwolves on Saturday, November 11 at 3 PM. The game will be played at the Allegany College of Maryland as the two preseason nationally ranked teams will face off for the first time since 2021 when Niagara beat Howard 64-60.