DANVILLE, IL - Andrew Mills (Owings Mills, MD/New Town) had a phenomenal performance on the national stage, but it was not enough for the Dragons to overcome the Florida State College at Jacksonville Blue Wave by the score of 89-75. The first round loss for the Dragons means they will get one last game to close out the season in the consolation bracket.

Andrew Mills (Owings Mills, MD/New Town) started out the game right for Howard as he grabbed a defensive rebound then hit a three pointer from the top of the arc followed by a tough layup in the paint. The Blue Wave opened up a seven point lead after Mills went to the bench with two fouls, but baskets in the paint by John Thomas (Baltimore, MD/Patterson) and Emanuel Henriques (Baltimore, MD/Benjamin Franklin) cut into that deficit. 

FSC-Jacksonville once again took control as Tarance Guinyard scored 15 points in the first 10 minutes as the Blue Wave led 24-11. Mills came back on the court and immediately made a couple of baskets to chip away a little. The Dragons fell behind by 20 at 38-17 with five minutes left as Howard started to see the game slip away from them. Mills hit a three pointer followed by a big Christian Dean (Elkridge, MD/Long Reach) corner three to force a timeout from the Blue Wave. Thomas hit a deep three pointer late in the half, but the Dragons went into halftime trailing 50-31.

With the Dragons down by 22 in the second half, Howard finally found their stride on both ends of the court as they went on a 12-0 run with contributions from all five starters. Mills continued to drive the Dragons forward as he hit a step back long two followed by a put back dunk as the Dragons were down by just nine.

With hope fading for the Dragons down by 14 with seven minutes left, the Dragons made one more comeback attempt. Ryan Conway (Towson, MD/Dulaney) knocked down back to back three pointers followed by a Jalen Bowie (Frederick, MD/Frederick) steal that led to a Thomas fast break layup that cut the Jacksonville lead down to eight. That was the closest Howard would get as they ran out of time and opportunities.

Mills was spectacular, scoring 30 points including 12-15 from the floor, 2-2 from three point range, and 4-4 from the free throw line. He also added 12 rebounds for his ninth double-double of the season. Mills also became just the third Dragon in the modern era of record keeping (2012-current) to score 500 points in a season and moved to second on the list behind only Daeshawn Eaton Mills also now has 901 career points over his two years as a Dragon, also second all-time behind Eaton.

Conway scored 16 points with a couple of steals while Thomas scored 14 points before fouling out late in the game. Dean scored 5 while O'Meech Wilso added 4 points. Bowie had 6 rebounds and a team high 3 assists.

The Dragons will play one last game for the season in the consolation bracket as they take on the County College of Morris on Wednesday, March 20 at 12 PM ET. The CCM Titans came into the tournament as the #19 seed and have a 21-8 record after losing 71-70 against #14 seed Monroe Community College.