Bowling Green, OH--The Howard University men’s basketball team will open the 2011-12 season against the Falcons of Bowling Green University on Friday at 7 pm. The Falcons, who are coming off a 10-18 season, could have special incentive as they will be playing in the recently completed Stroh Center. It will be the first time that a regular season game has been played in the facility.

The two teams met last season in Washington, DC at Burr Gymnasium and the Bison were able
to pull out a 54-52 nailbiter. BGSU returns all five starters, including three who averaged in double figures last season. The Falcons are a veteran team, led by senior guard Dee Brown who averaged 10.4 points and shot almost 47 percent from the field, senior forward Scott Thomas, who muscled his way to 11.2 points and 6.7 rebounds per contest, red-shirt junior forward A’uston Calhoun, who led the Falcons in scoring with 12.5 points per game and junior guard Jordon Crawford, a proven floor general who averaged almost 8 points per game and four assists.

The Bison, who finished 6-24 under head coach Kevin Nickelberry, are excited about their
prospects for the season. Howard returns some proven performers to go along with perhaps the best recruiting class in school history.

Mike Phillips, a 6-7 junior forward, had his best season, averaging almost 13 points and seven
rebounds per game. He will be joined in the frontcourt by 6-10 sophomore forward/center Alphonso Leary, who came on strong late in his freshman season to average almost eight points and six rebounds per game while leading the team in blocks with 18.

Dadrian Collins also had his best season. The 6-6 junior forward averaged 11 points and almost
five rebounds per game and is one of the team’s best long-range shooters.

Anton Dickerson, a 6-3 junior guard, is also a proven scorer, having averaged almost 12 points
per game last season. He will provide scoring off the bench.

The team was decimated by injuries last season and ended the season with the five starters all
averaging over 32 minutes per game.

Coach Nickelberry went out to ensure that depth nor talent will be a problem this season. The
team’s hopes are buoyed by the return of Calvin Thompson and Thedore Boyomo. Thompson, a 6-3 red-
shirt junior guard, was regarded as one of the top players in the conference headed into last season, but he injured his knee in the second game and missed the entire season.

He gives the team scoring, floor generalship and the all-around play that they sorely missed last
season in close games down the stretch.

Boyomo is a 6-9 redshirt freshman center who was highly regarded when he signed with the
Bison last season. Unfortunately, the talented center injured a knee in the pre-season and had to sit out. He and Thompson return healthy, much to the delight of the coaching staff and Bison fans and to the angst of opponents.

The strong recruiting class includes Prince Okoroh, Simuel Frazier, Brandon Bailey and Brandon Ford.

Okoroh is a 6-5, 190-pound highly touted forward/guard, who is slated to start. He was the MVP
of the Capital Classic preliminary game in March.

Frazier is a 5-11 freshman point guard who will get lots of playing time at the point guard
position. Bailey is 6-6 high riser, who is very athletic and brings energy off the bench. Ford is a 6-3
combo guard who has a bright future.

FOLLOW THE ACTION:

Follow The Game!

The game will be streamed with video online for a fee at http://
www.b2livetv.com/partner_members.asp?id=283
There is also a free radio broadcast at http://
client.stretchinternet.com/client/bgsu.portal#
Finally, there will be live stats at http://www.sidearmstats.com/bgsu/
mbball/index.htm

NEXT UP: Following the game at Bowling Green, Howard returns home to host Washington Adventist in the home opener on Monday at 7 pm in the Burr Gymnasium.