Olukanni Led the Field with 25 points; Firebirds Fall to Knights 75-70

Flushing, N.Y.- Senior Guard Zachary Olukanni led the field with 25 points, 12 rebounds and four assists to pack the stat sheet in a heartbreaking loss against the Queens College Knights, Wednesday evening at the Fitzgerald Gymnasium. 

Olukanni went 11-21 from the field, 1-1 from behind the arc and 2-3 from the free throw line. 19 of his 25 points came from the first half where the Firebirds led the Knights 42-34 going into half time. Cheyenne Nettleton came off the bench to contribute 15 points going 6-4 from the field and 3-4 from the three point line. Other double figure scorers were Juanye Colon (12 points) and Aaren Smith (10 points).

It was a slow start for both teams in the first half but the Firebirds would lead the Knights up until a couple free throws and a made layup by Tyrese Crosdale gave Queens the lead with four minutes to go. A combination of three back to back jumpers from behind the arc by Colon and four made jumpers split between Olukanni and Nettleton gave the Firebirds a 42-34 lead going into the half.

The second quarter saw the Knights outscoring the Firebirds 41-28. They shot 45.2% from the field while holding UDC to just 29.0%. Queens took advantage of fouls going 11-16 from the free throw line and in the end they were able to defeat the Firebirds 75-70 to claim conference victory.

UDC (8-11, 3-4 ECC) will finish out the week with another conference showdown against St Thomas Aquinas College, who is currently second in league play with a 6-1 record. The Firebirds will host the Spartans on Saturday January 25^th at the UDC Gymnasium, with a kick off time of 3:00PM.