Box Score Wilmington, Del.- The Lightning men's basketball team overcame a 20 point first half deficit to defeat the University of the District of Columbia Firebirds, 77-33, in overtime at the Jones Center on Saturday afternoon.
The Lightning (2-0) were led by senior guard
Joey Getz (Archbishop Wood H.S./ Philadelphia, Pa.) who tallied a tie for the game high with 19 points. Getz shouldered the load for the comeback effort by scoring 13 points on 5-9 shooting from the floor and knocking down three of four from the free throw line in the second half.
Down 14 points after the break, the Lightning went on a 8-0 to start the second half capped by a Getz jumper at the 17:34 mark. The Firebirds (0-2) however pushed the lead back to 10 over the next four minutes after exchanging buckets with the Lightning. Things started to change around the seven minute mark for the Lightning, freshman center
Emmanuel Nwude (Parkdale H.S./ Riverdale, Md.) pulled down an offensive board off of a Lightning miss, put the ball on the floor and went up strong, kissing the ball off the glass for two of his nine points on the evening. Nwude was also fouled and completed the 3-point play with 7:06 to play and Lightning down five.
Firebird guard, Kory Cooley, answered with a traditional three pointer of his own to push the lead back to eight. Lightning guard Christopher Thompson (Life Center Academy/ Florence, N.J.) sprinted down the floor and knocked down a three off his own 15 seconds later to cut it to five with 6:40 to go. Thompson finished with nine points off the bench on 3-6 shooting.
Over the next five minute Getz scored 9 of the Lightning's 13 points to tie the game at 63 all with 1:20 to go. Getz stole a pass and dished the ball to
Domineek Owens (Paul Robeson H.S./ Philadelphia, Pa.) who calmly layed it in to take a 65-63 lead with 1:09 left in the half. A Lightning foul with 34 seconds left allowed the Firebirds to tie the game with two free throws from Quasim Jones. With the shot clock off and the Lightning with possession, they couldn't muster a good look and time expired in the half.
Overtime for the Lightning proved to be the determining factor as they shot 80 percent from the floor (4-5), no shot bigger than a transition three pointer hit by freshman forward
Joseph Carty (St. Andrew's School/ Natick, Mass.) to put the Lightning ahead for good, 72-70, with 1:18 remaining in the overtime period. The Lightning were able to hit their free throws to preserve the 77-73 win.
The Lightning put three starters in double figures, Getz, Owens, and
Daniel Cooper (West Orange-South Dade H.S./ Homestead, Fl.) who shot 6-10 from the floor and a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line.
This is the first time since the 2007-2008 season that the Lightning have started a season with two wins and zero losses.
The Lightning will have a week off until next Saturday, November 22, when they will square off with Lincoln University starting at 4:00 PM.
