Washington, DC—With the regular season winding down and teams jockeying for seeding positions, the Howard men's basketball team faces a strong test over the last five games, beginning with a home contest against a dangerous Savannah State team on Saturday at Burr Gymnasium.
The game will be highlighted by a pre-game presentation to junior guard James "J-Byrd" Daniel, III who recently set a new school record for points scored in a career with 1,755 points, eclipsing the old record of 1,724 held by Aaron Shingler form 1963-67.
The Tigers (10-13, 6-6 in the MEAC) have shown improvement of late and have won three in a row, including a huge 60-57 road win against South Carolina State, which was tied for first place before the loss.
Savannah State has won three in a row and are a half game ahead of the Bison in the standings.
The Tigers are led by Troyce Manassa (13.1 points, 5.1 rebounds per game), Christopher Mack (11.7, 3.0 rpg) and Lenjo Kilo (9.3 points, 5.3 rebounds). Savannah likes to control the tempo and leads the MEAC in scoring defense, allowing 69 points per game.
The Bison (11-15, 5-7 in the MEAC) got another outstanding effort from Daniel, who poured in a game-high 38 points in the win over UMES which snapped a four-game losing streak.
But Daniel got some much-needed help from junior forward Tyler Stone who scored 10 of his 12 points in the second stanza, including five down the stretch along with six from Daniel to salt away a 77-74 victory.
Howard was able to get the win despite foul trouble to starters Marcel Boyd and Damon Collins, who both fouled out, and some uncharacteristic poor foul shooting (27 of 41 for 65 percent). The Bison came into the game at 74 percent from the
charity stripe, 85 percent in the past three games.
The nation's leading scorer at almost 28 per game, Daniel was able to rebound from a mini shooting slump to hit his first six shots and set the tone. When he was not scoring baskets, he was able to get to the free throw line where had 23 attempts.
Following the game against Savannah State, Howard hosts South Carolina State on ORG Night, Monday at 7:30 pm in Burr.
They will then conclude the home season against Florida A&M on Wednesday at 7:30 pm. It will be Senior Night.
