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Philadelphia
University Rolls To Victory With |
By Greg Machos
November 19, 2008PHILADELPHIA, PA—For the first time in 21 years, GMC Hoops paid a visit to Northeast Philadelphia. The last time was for a college visit to LaSalle University. This occasion was to see a Division II college hoops game between the Rams of Philadelphia University and the Firebirds of the University of the District of Columbia.
It was a special night at Philadelphia U. as long time head coach and former standout at the school, Herb Magee was honored prior to the game for being inducted into the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame. On the court that is named in his honor, Magee, who has coached at the school for 42 years, and served the university itself for almost five full decades (49 years) as well as won over 800 games, was praised by guest speaker, and sideline reporter for ESPN, Dee Lynam, whose father worked for the Philadelphia 76ers, and played with Magee in high school. After Lynam spoke, the long time head coach was then given the only reserved parking space on the campus by the President of the school.
The evening was also special since it was the home opener for the Rams, which began their season with a 68-64 victory over Perth Amboy’s Jermaine Clark and the Knights of St. Rose of New York on the road a few nights earlier. The game also marked the college debut of former Bishop Ahr standout, Corey Francisco, who is coming off a summer he’d rather forget. According to his father, he injured his ankle in July, and then had a growth removed from his chest in August. Those two physical problems put him behind schedule in terms of what he was looking to do at Philly U. this season. However, there is hope that under the tutelage of Magee, who has worked with the likes of former Florida State standout, and Cleveland Cavalier, Bobby Sura, Francisco’s game could be elevated to a higher level.
Moving on to the game, Philadelphia University brought a lot of size and shooting ability to the table while UDC had plenty of quickness and athletic ability. In addition, the Firebirds had plenty of firepower with the likes of junior forward, David Burton, who at 6’6” reminded me of a smaller sized Derrick Caracter, and Tim Ellison, a sophomore, who came off the bench, and liked to talk it up as well as light it up. Entering the contest, UDC was at .500 with a 1-1 record, and the game was a coming home of sorts for two Philly high school standouts in Burton (Philadelphia Lutheran) and Kechan Myers (Philadelphia Engineering and Science). Philly U. itself had two hometown players on its roster as well in Malcolm Ingram (Solebury Prep), and Ishmawiyl McFadden (Simon Gratz H.S.).
For the game, there were a total of 16 lead changes and 5 ties including 15 such changes and 4 ties in the first 16:37 of the contest. Moreover, neither team had a lead larger than six points for the first 28:15. UDC’s largest edge was a four point margin at 15-11 with 10:49 to go in the first half while PU’s largest was six twice late in the first half including a 32-26 lead at the 2:01 mark, and a 34-28 advantage at the intermission. However, the Rams broke the game wide open with a 17-3 tear over a span of 7:32 early in the first half for a 52-38 lead at the 9:04 mark. UDC tried to rally with a 9-1 spurt that closed the gap to within six at 53-47, but Philly U., which got into the bonus with 12:27 remaining in the game, closed the contest with a 25-11 surge for a 78-58 victory. The first half saw a combined total of 62 points while the second half saw a bit more scoring with both teams getting together for 74 points.
UDC got on the board first with a putback by freshman forward, Gani Cole for a 2-0 lead at the 18:58 mark. Mike Dunn then got the Rams on the board with a three pointer on the very next Philly U. possession at the 18:40 mark to make it 3-2. The Firebirds quickly responded on their next series with a layup by senior guard, Brian Adams for a 4-3 lead with 18:22 to go. Dunn then canned another three pointer with exactly two minutes gone by in the game for a 6-4 lead. Nearly a minute went by before another score would occur, and UDC got those points to tie the game up at 6-6 on a drive from the right side by Burton (24 points and 13 rebounds) at the 17:07 mark. Over another minute went by without a score before Magee called for a 30 second timeout to reorganize his troops.
Following the timeout, the scoring drought continued for another 1:12 before UDC took the lead when diminutive, and fired up guard, Justin Smith scored on a scoop shot from the right side for an 8-6 lead. 6’5” junior forward, Marcus Lemon, then connected on a three pointer from the top of the key for the Rams third trey of the contest to account for al the scoring to this point, and a 9-8 lead with 14:26 left in the first half. Ellison (11 points and 6 rebounds) then tied things up when he was fouled by Lemon (13 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists) on a three-point attempt that resulted in a 1 of 3 showing from the foul line that knotted the score at 9-9 with 13:49 left before the intermission. Thirty-eight seconds later, Lemon dished to big man, Mike Yocum for a jam on the left low block to put the Rams on top again at 11-9 with 13:11 to go in the half.
PU had a chance to go ahead by three, but Burton drew a charge on Ingram (17 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 blocks) at the 12:52 mark. A little more than a minute later, UDC went back on top in what was shaping up as a seesaw affair when Myers (5 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists) dished to Ellison for a three pointer from the right wing that made it 12-11 at the 11:50 mark. UDC then called a 30 second timeout of its own two seconds later, and Francisco (0-1 FG, and a rebound) then got his first taste of action. For the game, the former BGA and Monmouth Academy standout only played about 7 minutes in two stints of action. At the 10:49 mark, Burton gave UDC its biggest lead of the game with a three pointer that made it 15-11. Dunn (16 points, 3 rebounds, an assist and a steal) responded with his third trey of the half to close the margin to one again at 15-14. Francisco tried to get into the act with a jumper, but missed. However, Yocum (11 points, 4 blocks, and 3 rebounds) was there to clean up with an offensive rebound and follow for a 16-15 edge at the 10:15 mark.
About a minute, and a half later, UDC swiped the lead back into its favor as Myers dished to Ellison for a trey from the right side, and an 18-16 lead with 8:45 remaining in the first half. Adams then added another score for a 20-16 lead before J.J. Gundry (1 point, 3 rebounds, and a steal) stepped up to the line to connect on one of two free throws to trim the UDC lead to 20-17 at the 7:56 mark. On the next UDC possession, the Firebirds were called for traveling at the 7:35 mark. The Rams, which closed the half with an 18-8 surge, scored 8 of the next 10 points as Lemon dished to Ingram for a layup from the left side with seven minutes remaining before the intermission, Lemon found Ingram again for a layup at the 6:36 mark, and then Lemon drained a three pointer from the right wing to answer an Adams layup off an assist by Rasheed Cole for a 24-22 advantage with 5:27 left before the break.
Francisco returned for his final stint of the game in the first half at the 3:06 mark. Philly U. continued its rally with a 10-6 showing the rest of the period including an entry pass by Lemon to Yocum for a layup, and the largest lead of the game to this point at 32-26. Philadelphia University maintained that lead with a 34-28 edge at halftime. In the second half, Philly U. outscored UDC by a 44-30 margin to break the game open, and ultimately pull away. The contest, which was tightly called for its physical play at times, was close early on in the second half though as the Rams continued to struggle trying to shake off the threat from the Firebirds. Burton opened the scoring in the second half by powering in on the drive to his right for a layup in the paint, and a 34-30 PU lead with 43 seconds gone by in the period. A minute later, UDC called a thirty second timeout to maintain possession of the basketball, and Burton took advantage by driving in from the right baseline, and drawing a foul from Yocum that resulted in one of two from the charity stripe for a 34-31 PU lead at the 17:57 mark.
Very unhappy, Magee called a timeout to regain the focus of his team. However, the stoppage didn’t seem to do the trick as Burton stole the ensuing inbounds at half court, and went in for a one handed jam that pulled his team within one at 34-33 with 17:22 to go. Yocum made one of two at the line with 17:04 to play for a 35-33 lead, but Burton, who scored all seven points up to this juncture of the game, scored on an offensive rebound and layin with the left hand to knot things up at 35-35 at the 16:36 mark. It was the first time the game had been tied since the 3:23 mark of the first half. It was also the last time it would be knotted up. The reason for that was because the Owls scored 17 of the next 20 points over a span of 7:32 to take command of the game for good. The only field goal during this stretch was by Burton, who began to get saddled with foul trouble. The Philly native scored at the 13:45 mark on an offensive rebound and putback to close the gap to 39-37.
Russell Frederick continued the run with an inbounds to Ingram for a layup in the left low block for a 39-35 advantage with 14:25 to play. Then, after a 30 second UDC timeout, and the Burton putback, Dunn connected on a jumper off another assist by Frederick (16 points including 11 of 14 FTs, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists), and then Ingram added a one of two showing at the foul line for a 42-37 lead. Adams got the final UDC points during this 7:32 stretch with one of two foul shots of his own. The Firebirds would be scoreless for the next 3:41. Moments later, another critical event happened, and that was the fact that the Rams were now in the bonus. So, let the parade to the foul line begin. Ingram made one of two at the 12:27 mark. Yocum followed that up by drawing a huge charge on Burton at the 12:09 mark. The 6’8” forward from Episcopal Academy then added a field goal by powering in at first, and then using finesse with a right handed hook shot for a 45-38 lead at the 11:45 mark.
Ingram added another one of two showing from the charity stripe as Burton was called for his third foul at the 10:21 mark with the score now 46-38. Lemon then added one of two of his own from the line for a 47-38 lead with 10:05 remaining, and he followed that up by drilling a three pointer from the right wing to make the lead a dozen at 50-38 with 9:51 to play. Calling a full timeout, UDC hoped to turn the tide, but in the short term, the Firebirds couldn’t. Ingram capped the outburst with a layin as he was fouled by Burton (fourth personal), but missed the bonus free throw for a 52-38 lead at the 9:04 mark of the second half. Over the next 2:58, UDC would score 9 of the next 10 points including a three pointer by Myers from the right wing to pull within six at 53-47 with 6:06 remaining, but Dunn ended a Philly U. scoring drought of 3:33 with a layup at the 5:31 mark that made it 55-47, and the Rams never looked back.
Frustrated by the officiating, UDC head coach, Julius L. Smith, picked up two technicals down the stretch, and was ejected from the game with 2:16 to go. Philadelphia University ended the game with a 25-11 surge for the 78-58 victory. With the win, the Rams improved to 2-0 on the young season while the Firebirds dropped to 1-2. Take a look at the stats from the game courtesy of the Philly U. athletics site, Greg's blog entry on his trip to Philadelphia, and the updated GMC Hoops College Schedule.
Team |
1 | 2 | Total |
Philadelphia University (2-0) |
34 | 44 | 78 |
University of the District of Columbia (1-2) |
28 | 30 | 58 |
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