New Rochelle, NY - O'Meech Wilson (Glen Burnie, MD/North County) recorded his second double-double of the season with a 23 point, 10 rebound game as the Dragons defeated the Monroe Mustangs JV team 88-67.

An early game battle saw the two teams stay close until an 8-0 run led by a couple of Shane Taylor (Ellicott City, MD/Centennial) layups to get the Dragons ahead 23-14. The Mustangs responded late in the first half to cut a Howard lead of 14 down to five, but six consecutive points by Emanuel Henriques (Baltimore, MD/Benjamin Franklin) to close out the first half padded the Dragons lead.

The second half saw the Dragons keep the Mustangs at an arms reach as Wilson dominated the paint on both sides of the court as Howard built up a lead as large as 25. The Dragons as a team scored 56 points in the paint with 18 second chance points thanks to 10 offensive rebounds. 

Wilson's 23 points came on 9-10 shooting from the floor with 3 assists and 2 blocks to go with his 10 rebounds. Andrew Mills (Owings Mills, MD/New Town) scored 15 points and Taylor added 11. Jalen Bowie (Frederick, MD/Frederick) and Henriques added 10 points each with John Thomas (Baltimore, MD/Patterson) scoring 8 as he started a fourth consecutive game.

Howard will return to Maryland in a critical Region 20 match-up at CCBC Dundalk on Wednesday, January 10 at 7 PM. The Dundalk Lions currently sport a 6-6 overall record and are 1-3 in regional play.

Howard has won the last three games between the two teams and five of the last six with the Lions only win against head coach Mike Smelkinson coming in the 2020 season by the score of 83-82. The Dragons won the last battle in January 2023 in an 88-55 rout.