Niceville, Fla. – The Harford Fighting Owls concluded their Sunshine State road trip with a showdown against No. 1 Northwest Florida State, falling to the Raiders 116-88 on Saturday.

The men in blue hung tough with the top-ranked Raiders the entire evening, grabbing an early lead in the contest before succumbing to NJCAA Division-I preseason favorites. Harford almost upended Northwest Florida at the Monroe College Invitational last season, with the then ranked No. 2 Raiders needing overtime to defeat the Fighting Owls.

Northwest Florida finally created some separation late in the first half and entered the break with 59-36 lead. The Fighting Owls, led by Jaedon Willis, Devin Smith and Naquan Wiliams-Day, pushed the deficit quickly back into the teens in the first few minutes of the second.

The Raiders eventually put the game out of reach midway through the second half, but Harford remained competitive thanks to an 11-of-22 performance from three-point range. Northwest Florida made up the difference in free throws, making 29 of their 34 their chances from the charity strike.

Harford was once again on the wrong end of another strong shooting night, with the Pirates firing at a 56.5% (36-of-69) rate from the field. The Fighting Owls bounced back from their performance on Friday, making 30-of-66 shots from the floor (45.5%).

The Fighting Owls drop to 2-2 with the loss while the Raiders remain undefeated at 5-0.

Game Notes

• Freshman guard Jaedon Willis led Harford with 19 points on 5-of-10 shooting, while Devin Smith and Naquan Williams-Day both added 17 points apiece.
• Freshman big man Anthony Peacock tallied a team high six boards in the loss
• Harford's two-game losing streak is its longest since their three-game slide back in 2017. The Fighting Owls returned to form quickly however, winning their next seven games.

Up Next
Harford returns home to face Prince George's on Tuesday, Nov. 13 at 7:00 p.m. The game will be played as part of a doubleheader, with the women set to tip things off at 5:00 p.m.
 
The other Owls (3-0) are led by redshirt-sophomore Alex Morales, who sat out last season due to injury. Morales was named the postseason conference MVP after leading PG to its first Md Juco title since 1981.

Harford defeated Prince George's in both of their meetings last season.