Harford Men’s Basketball Downs College of Southern Maryland, 83-74

From the HCC sports desk:

LA PLATA, Md.—Two days after the women’s team took a win from a trip down south, the Harford men’s basketball team repeated the feat with an 83-74 win over the College of Southern Maryland on Friday night at CSM.

The Fighting Owls (7-14, 3-9 MDJUCO) halted a three-game losing streak and seven-game conference skid with the win over the Hawks (7-11, 4-7 MDJUCO), who have lost two in a row.

Freshman Troy Burgan (Akron, Ohio/North) led all scorers with 21 points on 9-for-14 shooting from the field, while freshman Lionel Perkins (Bel Air, Md./Bel Air) totaled 19 points, as he shot 6-for-7 from the free throw line, and sophomore Ian Hill (Richmond, Va./Douglas Freeman/Walters State) tied his career-high with 18 points on 8-for-12 shooting and grabbed six rebounds.

Freshman Gabe Dell (Parkville, Md./Parkville) dished out a career-high nine assists and added nine points, while Saquan Brown led CSM with 17 points.

The Owls took the early lead for a welcome change, building an 11-4 lead over the Hawks by the 16:00 mark, but CSM tacked on an 18-4 run to take the lead, 22-15. The Owls would cut the Hawk lead to four points by the half, 43-39, but wouldn’t retake the lead until about halfway through the second period, when a turn-around jumper from Hill gave Harford a 60-59 with 9:38 remaining.

The Hawks quickly answered with a bucket of their own to take the lead back 61-60 and the teams would see four more lead changes before the Owls took back the lead for good.

Harford built a 10-point, 75-65, lead over CSM with 4:35 to go, but the Hawks would not give up without a fight and came within three of the Owls, 77-74, with 1:35 left in the second half.

The CSM defense forced two Harford turnovers, but the offense failed to capitalize on the opportunities, as Harford hung on down the stretch on the way to the 83-74 win.

The Fighting Owls return to action on Monday, Jan. 26 when they host the jayvee team from St. Mary’s, for a rescheduled game from December, at 8:00 p.m. at the Susquehanna Center.