Bronx, NY—The Howard University men's basketball team will play back-to-back games in the Big Apple, starting on Saturday when they take on the Rams of Fordham at 2 pm at the Rose Hill Gym. The Bison (2-10) will follow with an MEAC matchup against the Hornets of Delaware State in the Big Apple Classic at the Barclays Center at 6 pm.
It is part of a challenging schedule for the young Bison who played at the University of Central Florida on Wednesday and concludes with a game at Liberty University on Tuesday at 7 pm.
Howard had one of its better halves in the loss at UCF despite not having leading scorer James "J-Bird" Daniel in the lineup. The freshman sharpshooter who is averaging over 20 points per game, is nursing a sore toe. His status for the Fordham game is a game time decision.
In Daniel's absence, Howard got another fine all-around performance from junior forward
Prince Okoroh, who finished with 20 points. But there others who made contributions that pleased Howard head coach
Kevin Nickelberry.
Freshman
Solomon Mangham scored a career-high 16 points. Freshman guard
Keon Hill, playing in place of Daniel, dealt out a career-high five assists and red-shirt sophomore center
Oliver Ellison and freshman center
Marcel Boyd both did a solid job inside the paint area with rebounding and defense.
Coach Nickelberry is hoping that the team can build on the performance.
"If we continue to play with that kind of effort, it is going to pay dividends for us," he said. "We have to learn to put two halves together."
