Bel Air, MD - Andrew Mills (Owings Mills, MD/New Town) hit five from behind the arc to help lead a Howard come from behind victory over the Harford Fighting Owls by the score of 78-74. The Dragons improved to 14-5 on the season as they moved to 2-1 against Maryland Juco opponents.

A roller coaster first half saw the Dragons go up early thanks to hot shooting by Mills who hit three corner three pointers as Howard went up by 8. The Fighting Owls came back with a 13-0 run to build up a 40-32 halftime lead.

Emmanuel Henriques began to assert some authority early in the second half with a hoop and harm to set the tone. With the Dragons still down by 8 midway through the second half, Mills hit another three pointer followed by a Jaden Johnson (Upper Marlboro, MD/Dr. Henry A. Wise) tough layup in traffic and a Taylor three pointer to claw their way back. John Thomas (Baltimore, MD/Patterson) nailed a clutch three pointer from the top of the key with O'Meech Wilson (Glen Burnie, MD/North County) following that up with four straight points to tie the game at 62-62. Mills was able to block a shot on the next possession leading to a Taylor fast break layup to give Howard their first lead of the second half with five minutes left. Thomas would add an old fashioned three point play a couple minutes later to tie the game at 67-67 with Jalen Bowie (Frederick, MD/Frederick) getting a pick-2 to take the lead.

Harford would not go down silently as they hit a go ahead three pointer, but Taylor once again had the answer back with a long range shot of his own to take the lead back for the Dragons. After that, Howard was able to hold on with tough defense and the ability to make six straight free throws to close out the big win.

Mills led all scorers in the game with 25 points along with 7 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 3 assists. He shot 8-14 from the field, 5-6 from three point range, and 4-4 on the free throw line in a great all around shooting performance for the sophomore All-American. Taylor nearly matched a season high with 19 points, padding the stat sheet with 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals. Henriques scored 14 points as he rewarded coach Smelkinson's decision to insert him back into the starting lineup. Wilson added 8 points with 13 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 blocks including a huge second half. Thomas added 6 points and Johnson scored 4 along with a couple of steals. 

The Dragons will head back to the north east corner of Maryland for their next game as they go to Cecil College on Wednesday, January 17 at 7 PM. The traditionally strong Cecil Seahawks currently sit at 4-14 on the season and are 0-4 in Region 20 play. Cecil has defeated Howard in 11 of the last 12 games with the lone Howard win coming in 2020. The Seahawks won the last meeting in an 85-76 win in December 2022.