McHenry, Md. – The Fighting Owls returned to their winning ways on Tuesday, pushing past the Garrett Lakers 96-87 to remain undefeated in Md Juco conference play.  

Harford looked to be in control early after grabbing a 25-14 lead on their conference rivals thanks to fast starts from Jaedon Willis and Devin Smith. The Lakers stormed back over the next five minutes, knocking down several shots from distance to force a Harford timeout. The Fighting Owls looked better out of the break, but Garrett continued to fire away and went into the half up 45-43 after an 8-0 stretch in the final minutes.
 
The Fighting Owls plugged away at the Lakers lead over the next 15 minutes before finally tying the game at 72-72. After trading baskets on the next couple of possessions, Harford began to pull ahead with back-to-back daggers from distance by Willis and Kenneth Sumpter. Garrett resorted to grabbing quick baskets and fouls to keep their slim comeback hopes alive, but the Fighting Owls knocked down their chances from the charity strike to leave McHenry with the win.

Game Notes

• Devin Smith (15 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists) earned Harford's first triple-double this season ,while Kevin Perry (14 points,10 rebounds) secured his first double-double as a Fighting Owl.
• Freshman guard Jaedon Willis matched his career-high with another 31-point performance.
• Harford connected from distance 12 times during the contest, setting a new season high for the men in blue.
• The Fighting Owls move to 2-1 on the road with the win.
• Since their 2016-17 campaign, Harford is 27-3 when facing a Md Juco conference opponent during the regular season.

Up Next
Harford heads into a week-long layoff due to the Thanksgiving holiday. They will return to the court on Wednesday, November 28^th to face the Howard Dragons inside the APGFCU Arena at 7 p.m.