Columbia, MD - Howard Community College's men's basketball team put together a show-stopping performance on Tuesday night, as they manhandled Division I Hagerstown Community College 71-56 for their fourth straight win.
Howard hit 13 three-pointers as they raced out to an early lead, then held off a Hagerstown comeback attempt in the second half to secure a phenomenal victory. The win came after multiple Dragons were ruled out for illness or injury in the lead-up to the game.
The Dragons' first four shots were all three pointers, and all four hit pay dirt. Howard raced to a 12-3 lead and pulled away from Hagerstown for the rest of the half.
Sincere Barfield (Philadelphia, PA/Patterson), making his first start since a wrist injury sidelined him for two games, dropped ten points in the first and frustrated Hagerstown's defenders all night.
Myles McDuffie (Baltimore, MD/Lake Clifton) hit three threes and was electric in the paint, while
Jake Tillman (Atlanta, GA/Lakeside) shot perfect off the bench. The electric outside shooting gave the Dragons a 38-22 first half lead over a perplexed Hagerstown squad.
The second half saw the Hawks begin to dig back into the contest. Howard found themselves in foul trouble, with three Dragons getting four or more fouls. The Hawks shut down Howard's outside shooters and climbed back within nine points. But the tide could not be stopped for long, and thanks to excellent rebounding from
Lorcan Hyndman (Sydney, Australia/Bishop O'Connell), Howard re-established their double-digit lead. Hyndman hit a crucial three to push the lead to ten points, and
Jake Tillman (Atlanta, GA/Lakeside) continued to shoot well with another big three-pointer. Even
Cedric Harville (Baltimore, MD/Ben Franklin) got in on the action, dropping a three-pointer late the the elation of his teammates. Harville dropped nine points in the second half, and brought the crowd to its feet with a massive pair of dunks to ice the contest.
But it was Barfield who really got the crowd going down the stretch. The sophomore eclipsed 20 points for the second time this year off the back of three circus plays. A deep three from the logo was impressive, and an ankle-breaking shimmy that nearly sent Hagerstown's Dakari Enworom to the floor was followed by a fifth three-pointer. With seconds left, Barfield snagged an arcing rebound, crossed the length of the floor, and brought the house down with a massive slam dunk to put the exclamation point on Howard's victory.
Barfield was the leading scorer for the Dragons with 23 points, four rebounds, and five assists. Tillman shot perfect from three-point range, dropping eleven points and four assists. McDuffie kept his streak of double-digit scoring alive with ten points, three rebounds, and two assists. Harville added nine points, three rebounds, and three blocks, while
Juan Bell (Silver Spring, MD/James Hubert Blake) added seven points, three assists, and three steals.
Lorcan Hyndman (Sydney, Australia/Bishop O'Connell) led the team with 11 rebounds, two blocks, and a steal.
The Dragons face their toughest test of the season on Friday, December 5, as they travel across the bay to face off against Chesapeake College in a rematch of last season's Region 20 title game! Tip-off is at 7:00PM!
