Damal Neil's Monster Night Leads Warriors To Victory

Jan. 23, 2010

Rocklin, Calif. - One week earlier, junior Damal Neil struggled to find his rhythm at the free throw line in a three point loss. However, Neil calmly netted 14 of 17 free throws to help boost the Warriors past the visiting Menlo College Oaks 77-70 at the Warrior Dome.

The Warriors attacked the Oaks early and often with Neil in the post. Neil opened up the game with a beautiful spin move to the hoop and a foul. However, the Oaks battled back as Julian Harris got off to a hot start. Harris hit one of two from the line to tie the game at 20-20 with 9:22 left in the first half. Jessup junior Eleazar Jones responded with a three pointer to help spark a 13-3 run to build a double digit lead for the Warriors. The Oaks battled back to close the halftime score to 34-31.

The second half was slow go for both teams. Menlo's Tim Kees and Jessup's Neil made a living at the free throw line. The game stayed tight as through out the second half. The Warriors would build there lead to ten with ten minutes left to play. Then, the Oaks cut it to two with four minutes to play. However, Neil went back to work in the paint with another bucket and one. The Warriors would hold on for the victory.

Damal Neil finished the night with 26 points and 11 rebounds for the Warriors. Junior Kadeem Kirsten had 13 points and 6 rebounds, while senior guard Jason Washington added 10 points, 4 assist and 4 steals. Menlo was led by Tim Kees, who connected on 14 of 15 free throws to finish with 20 points.

"Damal was our work horse tonight" stated head coach Aaron Muhic. "He took the loss hard last week and really focused in on the free throws tonight. Our guys did a great job of continuing to feed him the ball."

Jessup improve to 4-1 in conference, while Menlo drops to 1-4.

The Warriors travel to take on Holy Names University on Thursday to close out the first round of conference action. HNU stands a top the league at 5-0. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 pm in Oakland.