Keyser, WV - A brilliant defensive performance by the Dragons led them to a convincing 76-61 win over the Potomac State Catamounts to win their seventh straight game. The Dragons improve to 10-2 on the season and 5-0 in Region 20 as they continue to increase their lead in the standings. 

The Dragons jumped out to an 11-0 lead in the game as Jalen Bowie (Frederick, MD/Frederick) got things going with a nice move to the basket to get a layup in traffic. Emanuel Henriques (Baltimore, MD/Benjamin Franklin) hit a mid-range jumper and Shane Taylor (Ellicott City, MD/Centennial) added a deep three followed by an O'Meech Wilson (Glen Burnie, MD/North County) slam to force Potomac State to take a time out. The Dragons forced another turnover on the ensuing possession as Henriques intercepted the pass and went coast to coast to get a fast break layup as the Dragons were in firm control of the game. 

Potomac State started to work their way back into the game, but some important minutes late in the first half from the bench extended the Howard lead as Ayyub Rabb (Columbia, MD/Atholton) scored 7 in the first half and Jordan Horne (Laurel, MD/Laurel) made a couple of big baskets as the Dragons led 38-25 at halftime. 

The second half saw Taylor and Bowie control the game as an effective back court with both playing all 20 minutes and combining to score 16 second half points. Wilson dominated the paint on both sides of the court as his interior defense was critical to the success of the day while Bowie continued to show why he is arguably the best on ball defender in the region this season. Henriques scored 9 of his 13 points in the second half as he earned his second start of the season. The Dragons held a double digit lead for nearly the entire second half, building up a lead as big as 17.

Bowie led the team with 15 points followed by Taylor and Henriques with 13 each. Wilson and Arthur Roache (Washington, DC/Theodore Roosevelt) added nine points as Wilson fell a point short of a double-double as he finished with 16 rebounds on the day. The Dragons shot 47% from the floor compared to Potomac State's 34%. Howard has now defeated Potomac State three times in a row after a stretch of losing to Potomac State in 6 of 7 games.

The Dragons will now prepare to take on the Hagerstown Hawks on Monday, December 11 at 7:30 PM. Howard has won the last four meetings between the two teams with the last coming on December 7, 20222 as the Dragons won 61-57 in Columbia. The last time Hagerstown defeated Howard was in 2019 as the Hawks won 89-76 in the last season under the previous coach Joel Dearring.