Perkins Scores Career-High 31 Points, But Harford Men’s Basketball Falls to Baltimore City, 106-84

From the HCC sports desk:

BEL AIR, Md.—Freshman Lionel Perkins (Bel Air, Md./Bel Air) scored a career-high 31 points, but the Harford men’s basketball team gave up 35 points off 26 turnovers in a 106-84 loss to Baltimore City on Saturday afternoon at Susquehanna Center.

Perkins led all scorers with 31, shooting 11-for-15 from the field, including 4-for-5 from long-range and 5-5 from the line while pulling down seven rebounds and dishing out four assists for the Fighting Owls (5-11, 2-6 MDJUCO). Freshman Chris Pappas (Fallston, Md./Fallston) also bested his career mark with 12 points on 4-for-13 shooting, 3-for-4 from the stripe, while freshman Troy Burgan (Akron, Ohio/North) was a perfect 10-for-10 from the line with 18 total points, eight assists, and five boards.

Robert McKee led the Panthers (7-8, 3-5 MDJUCO) with a double-double of 30 points and 22 rebounds, shooting 13-for-23 and John Williams put up a double-double as well with 23 points and 10 boards on 11-for-17 shooting.

The Owls started the first half with a fast break layup by Burgan off the tip by sophomore Ian Hill (Richmond, Va./Douglas Freeman/Walters State) to score the first points of the game, but the Panthers would score eight straight points to take an 8-2 lead just two minutes into the period.

Perkins single-handedly gave the lead back to Harford, as he tallied a jumper, fast break layup off a Pappas dish and a 3-pointer off a pass from Burgan to put the Owls up, 9-8, with 16:35 to go.

Neither team would take a lead of more than three points for the next 11 minutes, which saw five ties and seven lead changes, until Baltimore took the lead for good off a Kenneth Alford layup at 7:40 that made the score, 25-23 in the Panthers’ favor.

Freshman Kevin Mead (Fawn Grove, Pa./Kennard-Dale) added a fast break layup at 7:32 to knot the score for the final time at 25 points, but Baltimore answered with a 7-0 run to take a 32-25 advantage with just over five minutes to play.

The Owls would cut that lead to five on the ensuing possession after Hill drained a jumper, but would come no closer than six points as the Panthers took a 43-34 lead into the half.

The Owls would score the first points of the second half with a fast break layup by Perkins to cut the deficit to seven points, 43-36, but Trevor Howze answered with a trey and Baltimore took back a double-digit lead.

Harford would not see a single-digit lead for the rest of the game, as the Panthers dominated the inside, scoring 38 of their 63 points in the second half in the paint, while the Owls managed just 16 of 50 inside the key.

Perkins was one of the few bright spots of the Harford offense in the second stanza, as he shot 6-for-10 from the field, including 2-for-3 from behind the arc and 3-for-3 from the line for a total of 17 points, while the Owls as a team shot 22-for-25 from the line for an .880 efficiency.

McKee was the story of the day for the Panthers, however, as he was just one rebound shy of tallying a double-double in each half, as he put up 19 points and 13 rebounds in the first and came back and tallied 11 points and nine boards in the second as he led the Panthers to the 106-84 win.

The Fighting Owls return to action on Monday, Jan. 12 when they host Salem for a 7:00 p.m. contest at the Susquehanna Center.

Newspaper Box Score
Baltimore City vs Harford
1/10/09 12:10 p.m. at Bel Air, Md.
At Bel Air, Md.
BALTIMORE CITY 106, HARFORD 84
BALTIMORE CITY (7-8, 3-5 MDJUCO)
McKee, Robert 13-23 4-5 30; Williams, John 11-17 0-0 23; Howze, Trevor 4-7
0-1 12; Johnson, Marquise 4-12 1-2 10; Townes, Calvert 3-9 2-2 8; Alford,
Kenneth 4-10 0-0 8; Horton, James 2-7 1-2 7; Flowers, Steven 2-5 0-0 4;
Keller, Xavier 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 45-93 8-12 106.
HARFORD (5-11, 2-6 MDJUCO)
Perkins,Lionel 11-15 5-5 31; Burgan,Troy 4-8 10-10 18; Hill,Ian 5-9 5-10 15;
Pappas,Chris 4-13 3-4 12; Volk,Jesse 1-7 3-4 5; Mead,Kevin 1-6 1-3 3. Totals
26-58 27-36 84.
Baltimore City 43 63 106
Harford 34 50 84
3-point goals–Baltimore City 8-21 (Howze, Trevor 4-7; Horton, James 2-5;
Williams, John 1-1; Johnson, Marquise 1-3; Flowers, Steven 0-2; Alford,
Kenneth 0-2; Townes, Calvert 0-1), Harford 5-16 (Perkins,Lionel 4-5;
Pappas,Chris 1-3; Volk,Jesse 0-3; Mead,Kevin 0-5). Fouled out–Baltimore
City-Flowers, Steven, Harford-None. Rebounds–Baltimore City 56 (McKee,
Robert 22), Harford 32 (Perkins,Lionel 7). Assists–Baltimore City 26
(Alford, Kenneth 9), Harford 14 (Burgan,Troy 8). Total fouls–Baltimore City
23, Harford 13. Technical fouls–Baltimore City-McKee, Robert, Harford-TEAM.
A-102