WASHINGTON (December 14, 2024) – Senior guard Marcus Dockery (Washington) scored 12 of his team-high 27 points in the second half to lead four Bison in double figures as the Howard University men's basketball team pulled out a hard-fought 88-83 win over a talented UNCW in a nonconference matchup at Burr Gymnasium.
 
The Bison upped the record to 5-6 on the season with their second straight win. The loss snapped a four-game win streak for the Seahawks.
 
The game was one of the more entertaining games at the Burr Gymnasium in the past two years. Although, it is only 11 games in the season, this victory could be looked back on as a defining moment in the season.
 
The tone for this classic battle was set early in the first half when Howard jumped out an early 12-point lead on the scoring of Dockery and graduate guard Joshua Strong (Minneapolis). The duo combined for 29 of the Bison's points as the hosts led, 45-40, at intermission. The game featured nine ties and three lead changes with UNCW (7-3) using a 9-2 run to end the half.
 
Howard freshman guard Blake Harper (Washington), who was coming off the program's first triple-double and is the team's leading scorer, was limited to six points in 18 minutes of play.
 
The second half went back-and-forth with the Bison maintaining a five-to-seven-point cushion.  That is until Khamari McGriff took over for the Seahawks and put them on his back, at one point scoring all 12 of his team's points. The talented 6-foot-8 junior went 8-for-10 from the field and scored on almost every UNCW position. He was not only effective scoring the basketball, but he was also able to get both of the Howard post players, redshirt junior Ayodele Taiwo (Lagos, Nigeria) and senior forward Mounir Hima (Tillaberi, Niger) into foul trouble.
 
With McGriff having his way in the paint area, Howard had to go to some unexpected players.  Harper, who has been named the MEAC (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) Rookie of the Week five times on the season, came alive in the second half, tallying 12 of his 18 points. But he picked up his third foul early in the second half, forcing the Bison to look for someone to pick up the void.
 
Dockery, Strong, graduates Cameron Shockley-Okeke (Norwalk, Conn.) and Anwar Gill (Washington) took turns in the balanced attack to keep the determined Seahawks at bay.  Dockery, Shockley-Okeke and Strong, in particular, combined for clutch three pointers, oftentimes with the shot clock winding down against the smothering defense of UNCW.
 
The Bison were already undermanned as they were playing without the services of starters, senior guard Bryce Harris (Brentwood, N.Y.), the MEAC Preseason Player of the Year, junior starting forward Dom Campbell (Scarborough, Maine) and junior reserve forward Ose Okojie (Brampton, Canada).
 
Things looked bleak when Harper picked up two quick fouls and fouled out with 10 minutes left to play, but that is when the Bison got some unexpected help from Taiwo, who played arguably his best game in a Bison uniform. Despite being in foul trouble, he played a key role down the stretch. The 6-foot-8 junior scored only two points, but it was other areas where he proved to be an asset. He grabbed a career-high six rebounds and came up with a key assist on a Dockery basket, got a steal and topped it off with a career-high three blocks, two coming on key UNCW possessions with less than a minute.
 
In the end, it was the veteran Dockery who made the key offensive plays, along with Strong, who went 6-for-6 on free throws, including 4-of-4 in the last 1:05.
 
For the game, Dockery converted on 10-of-18 from the field, including 4-of-5 from three-point land while dishing out a career-best seven assists. Strong was 4-of-7 from the floor, including 4-of-6 from downtown and a career-high six rebounds.
 
Despite fouling out, Harper managed 18 points, 12 coming in the second half to go along with seven rebounds and four assists in 27 minutes.
 
Shockley-Okeke finished with 12 points, including 2-of-2 from beyond the arc.
 
UNCW held a huge advantage on points in the paint (46-24) and second chance points (16-3). The Bison were able to offset that advantage with 13-of-20 shooting (season-best 65-percent) from behind the arc, a season-best 21-of-26 from the charity stripe and 81-percent (21-of-28) from the charity stripe.
 
UNCW was led by McGriff, who led all scorers with 34 points on 14-of-16 shooting and Sean Moore and Harlan Obioha with 13 points and 12 points, respectively.
 
NEXT UP: Howard closes out the 2024 home schedule Tuesday (Dec. 17) when it hosts Drexel at 3:30 p.m., inside The Burr.
 
For more information, visit the Bison Athletics website at www.HUBison.com.