UDC Firebirds Defeat Salem International 87-74 for 6th Consecutive Win

Washington, DC; December 6, 2006--- The call was made to turn out the lights, with 5:51 remaining in the basketball game between the University of the District of Columbia Firebirds and the Salem International University Tigers, after UDC’s junior guard Willie Shaw took the ball and put a move on the Tiger defense for a lay-up to raise the score to 71-59 as the Firebirds defeated the Tigers for the second time in four days.

The Tigers kept the game close until late in the second half when the Firebirds began to pull away, opening a 10-point lead on a dunk by junior guard Antwon Hawkins at the 13:07 mark of the second half. From that point on, the Firebirds scored at will and went on to win the game by the score of 87-74.

Junior guard Charlie Smallwood (Bowie, MD) paced the Firebirds with 21 points, 4 rebounds, and 8 assists. Justin Walker, a junior guard from Teaneck, New Jersey followed with 20 points and 2 rebounds. Willie Shaw added 12 points, and 7 rebounds to the winning effort.

UDC shot 58 percent from the two-point range, 55 percent from three-point range, and hit 62 percent at the charity line. Salem shot 40 percent from the field, and only made 16 percent of their three-point shots.

Stanley Milien was the high scorer for the Tigers with 18 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist. Curtis Dorsey followed with a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds.

With this victory, the Firebirds now have six consecutive wins and improve their season record to 6-1. They travel to Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania on Saturday, December 9, to play the Bloomsburg University Huskies, at 3 p.m.