Two Players Score 20+ Points, but Harford Men’s Basketball Falls to CCBC-Dundalk, 87-74

From the HCC sports desk:

BEL AIR, Md.—Freshmen Lionel Perkins (Bel Air, Md./Bel Air) and Troy Burgan (Akron, Ohio/North) each tallied over 20 points, but the Harford men’s basketball team fell to CCBC-Dundalk, 87-74, on Wednesday night at the Susquehanna Center.

The Fighting Owls (6-14, 2-9 MDJUCO) have now lost three in a row and six of seven since the start of 2009, while the Lions (13-7, 5-5 MDJUCO) are on a two-game winning streak.

Perkins broke the 20-point barrier for the second straight game ,with 24 points on 9-for-17 shooting, with 19 of those points coming in the second half off 7-for-11 shooting. Perkins also dished out five assists on the night, while Burgan totaled 21 points on 8-for-15 shooting, grabbed six boards, and tallied four assists and three steals.

Freshman Jesse Volk (Bel Air, Md./C. Milton Wright) fell just shy of a double-double with 10 points and eight rebounds, while helping on a career-high six baskets and tying his career-high of four steals.

Dundalk also had two players in the 20-point range, as Ricardo Laing led the way with 23 points on 6-for-8 shooting, 2-for-3 from behind the arc, and 9-for-10 from the line, while pulling down eight rebounds and Anthony Baglin totaled 20 points with seven rebounds, seven assists, and six steals.

The Lions controlled the game early on, taking a 13-0 lead over Harford just three minutes into the first half.

The Owls started the game 0-6 from the field while Dundalk was a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor and 3-for-3 from the line.

Sophomore Ian Hill (Richmond, Va./Douglas Freeman/Walters State) broke Harford’s scoring drought at the 16:54 mark as he converted one of his two free throws and would add a jumper in the paint less than 30 seconds later. After two minutes of scoreless play from both teams, Perkins took a dish from Volk and layed it up to complete a 5-0 run for Harford, cutting the Dundalk lead to eight, 13-5 with 14:34 left.

Harford would extend the scoring run to 15-6 over the next 4:30 to cut the Lion lead to four, 19-15, with 9:57 remaining in the period, before Dundalk built the lead back up to a 10-spot, 25-15 with 8:16 to go.

For the remainder of the half, the teams see-sawed the score as Harford would cut the lead to six, and Dundalk would build it back to 10, before the Owls cut the lead to six again only to have the Lions bring the advantage back up to 10. Harford would notch the last basket with an alley-oop from Volk that Burgan slammed home with 31 seconds left to take a 33-25 deficit into the half.

The second half saw the Lions quickly build a 14-point lead, 39-25, with 18:26 left, before Burgan added the Owls’ first point with a free throw at the 17:54 mark.

Dundalk would control the game for the majority of the half, taking as much as a 21-point, 70-49, lead over the Owls, but Harford would not go down without a fight.

Perkins started what would turn out to be a 12-2 run by the Owls that saw two treys from Volk and cut the lead to 11, 72-61, with 4:25 remaining.

Laing, however, tacked on a fast-break layup to bring the Dundalk advantage to 13, only to have Burgan add a fast break bucket of his own to cut the lead to 11, before head coach Greg Witkop called for a timeout.

A jumper from Aaron Jackson and Harford foul on the next Lion possession would bring Laing to the line, where he buried two free throws to give Dundalk a 78-63 lead with 2:37 to go.

Burgan tacked on a layup, and swiped a ball from Jackson before Perkins notched a layup to bring the lead back down to 11, 78-67, for the third time in two-and-a-half minutes.

Volk caused another Jackson turnover and would have cut the lead to nine, but had his layup blocked by Sinclair Harris, with Baglin firing the rebound down the court to a streaking Jackson who tallied the fast-break layup to put the Lions up by 13, 80-67 with 1:26 to go.

Burgan netted another layup to bring the deficit down to 11, but a foul by Perkins put Baglin at the line, where he made and missed one shot each. Saladine Marshall tacked on a layup and picked up a foul by Perkins for the and-one, but missed the freebie, only to have Baglin send Harris up for the alley-oop and a 16-point, 85-69 advantage with 32 seconds left.

Perkins would add a trey to cut the lead to 13 and freshman Chris Pappas (Fallston, Md./Fallston) would add a jumper in the final seconds after two made free throws by Laing to bring the deficit down to 13 as Dundalk earned the 87-74 victory.

The Fighting Owls return to action on Friday when they travel to face the College of Southern Maryland for a 7:00 p.m. contest.

Newspaper Box Score
CCBC-Dundalk vs Harford
1/21/09 7:00 p.m. at Bel Air, Md.
At Bel Air, Md.
CCBC-DUNDALK 87, HARFORD 74
CCBC-DUNDALK (13-7, 5-5 MDJUCO)
Laing, Ricardo 6-8 9-10 23; Baglin, Anthony 7-17 6-7 20; Harris, Sinclair
6-13 2-2 14; Jackson, Aaron 5-9 0-0 10; Jones, Salim 3-5 0-0 6; Marshall,
Saladine 2-2 2-3 6; Sheppard, Lamont 2-6 0-0 4; Boyd, Bill 0-0 2-2 2;
Homberger, Alex 1-1 0-0 2; Miles, Keon 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 32-63 21-24 87.
HARFORD (6-14, 2-9 MDJUCO)
Perkins,Lionel 9-17 4-4 24; Burgan,Troy 8-15 5-6 21; Volk,Jesse 3-10 2-3 10;
Hill,Ian 3-6 2-4 8; Pappas,Chris 1-3 4-4 6; Dell, Gabe 2-3 0-0 5; Mead,Kevin
0-6 0-0 0. Totals 26-60 17-21 74.
CCBC-Dundalk 33 54 87
Harford 25 49 74
3-point goals–CCBC-Dundalk 2-9 (Laing, Ricardo 2-3; Baglin, Anthony 0-3;
Sheppard, Lamont 0-2; Miles, Keon 0-1), Harford 5-19 (Perkins,Lionel 2-6;
Volk,Jesse 2-5; Dell, Gabe 1-2; Mead,Kevin 0-5; Burgan,Troy 0-1). Fouled
out–CCBC-Dundalk-None, Harford-None. Rebounds–CCBC-Dundalk 42 (Laing,
Ricardo 8; Harris, Sinclair 8), Harford 29 (Volk,Jesse 8).
Assists–CCBC-Dundalk 11 (Baglin, Anthony 7), Harford 22 (Volk,Jesse 6).
Total fouls–CCBC-Dundalk 21, Harford 17. Technical
fouls–CCBC-Dundalk-None, Harford-Pappas,Chris. A-77