Campus News
February 8th, 2024
Mills scores 31 as Dragons down GC men
Howard wins 8th straight behind team’s all-American forward
Andrew Mills was due for a big offensive performance.
And that bill came due Saturday afternoon at Garrett College.
Mills, Howard Community College’s second-team all-American, scored a game-high 31 points in just 33 minutes as the Dragons downed the Lakers, 79-54. Mills hit 14-of-19 shots from the field, including his only 3-point attempt, and hauled in 11 rebounds as the Dragons (21-5 overall, 9-1 region) won their eighth straight game.
"The last couple of games he was kind of quiet offensively," said Howard head coach Mike Smelkinson of Mills. "Early on, he had the jump shot going and that opened up drives for him."
"We knew going in he [Mills] was going to be a match-up issue for us," said GC head coach Matt McCullough. "Howard has so many other good players around him, it’s hard to completely focus in on him."
The Lakers (12-10, 4-5) lost their second straight after four consecutive wins. Miller’s offensive performance combined with Howard’s defensive effort – which held GC to less than 40 percent shooting from the field – dashed the Lakers’ upset hopes.
"I thought they were really good defensively," said McCullough. "They made it tough for us to execute our sets and they were very physical."
"We’re on a nice little winning streak because we’re locked in defensively," said Smelkinson.
Nate Washington’s 3-pointer just 105 seconds into the game gave GC its last lead at 5-4. Howard took command with a 10-0 scoring streak that included a pair of Mills hoops as the Dragons built a 14-5 lead.
Mills, meanwhile, was scoring at a point-a-minute pace throughout the first half, finishing with 20 points as Howard built a 39-26 halftime lead. The Dragons stretched their lead to 52-32 as Shane Taylor (14 points) and Mills hit consecutive 3-pointers just four minutes into the second half.
Jalen Bowie (12 points) and O’Meech Wilson (10 points) also reached double digits for the Dragons.
Alex Vargo led GC with 18 points, Washington added 14 points, and Stephen Robinson (seven rebounds) contributed 12 points for the Lakers. K’Shawn Scott added seven points and a team-high eight rebounds.
"I thought our preparation was good. We knew it was going to take an ‘A’ game and we were going to have to shoot it really well," McCullough said of matching up against Howard. "We just couldn’t sustain the level we needed to be at for 40 minutes."
GC plays at Hagerstown Community College Wednesday at 7 p.m. and hosts Frederick Community College Saturday at 3 p.m.
