Dundalk, MD - A thrilling match in the Dragons' penultimate regular season game resulted in Howard falling to the College of Southern Maryland Hawks 69-64.

The Hawks shocked the Dragons early on as they jumped out to a 12-2 lead thanks to a 10-0 run. After Southern Maryland extended that lead to 12 with 6:30 remaining in the first half, Ethan Wilson (Manassas, VA/Osbourn Park) knocked down a three pointer to start the comeback and scored the final four points of the half to give the Dragons a 33-31 lead at halftime. 

The second half was an epic battle of back and forth action as the lead changed hands 12 times in the second half alone. Koby Baptiste (New Carrollton, MD/Parkdale) woke up from a slow start to score 11 second half points including a three-point play to tie the game at 62-62 with 1:30 left. After another Hawks basket, Baptiste again got to the rim to tie the game with under a minute left. After the Hawks got ahead 67-64, the Dragons had one last chance as a Cameron Watts (Columbia, MD/Boys Latin) three point attempt from the top of the key went off the rim and foiled Howard's hopes.

Wilson and Baptiste each scored 13 points in the game with Shane Taylor (Ellicott City, MD/Centennial) adding 11. Andrew Mills (Owings Mills, MD/Newtown) chipped in eight points and 11 rebounds while Benjamin Murphy (Reisterstown, MD/Franklin) scored seven points along with six steals, five rebounds and five assists.

The Dragons will close out their regular season at Harford on Tuesday, February 28 at 7 PM in a rematch from the Howard 76-65 victory over the FIghting Owls on November 29.