BALTIMORE, Md. – The Eagles had a pair finish with double figure scoring in their 2016-17 home opener, but their late rally came up just shy to Chestnut Hill in a 76-73 loss on Monday, Nov. 28, 2016. Freshman guard
Dejuan Clayton scored a season-high 19 points with 17 coming in the second half and junior guard
Tre' Thomas added 16 points with three three-pointers. Despite outscoring Chestnut Hill in the second half Coppin State finished with a season-high 20 turnovers with 15 coming in the first half.
Thomas carried the Coppin State (0-8) offense in the first half with 11 points hitting 3-of-5 three-pointers. Senior forward
Joshua Treadwell added seven points and made one shot from long range while sophomore guard
Lucian Brownlee drained a pair of three-pointers. Even with hitting 6-of-13 shots from behind the arc, the Eagles committed 15 first half turnovers and Chestnut Hill flourished converting on 11-of-13 free-throws. Junior forward
Blake Simpson was a force in the paint grabbing six boards as the Eagles had a 19-16 advantage on the glass.
Clayton tied the game at 40-40 after three minutes rolled off the second half clock. He came out of halftime with several early baskets. The Griffins responded with a run of their own taking a nine point lead (50-41) on a three-pointer with 14-minutes left and soon after the Eagles came roaring back after a layup by senior
Joseph Gripper cutting the deficit to two (56-54) with 10-minutes on the clock. Down the stretch Chestnut Hill kept the pressure on the home team by converting free-throws and shooting 44% from the field. Coppin State followed with a 41% shooting half and limited their turnovers to only five. The Griffins pushed their lead back up to double-digits with 3:09 left as Coppin State attempted a final comeback.
CSU hit their second three-pointer of the half with 2:39 left by Clayton trimming the Griffins advantage to eight (71-63). Clayton's aggressive second half rallied the Eagles and with a minute remaining red-shirt freshman
Juwan Davenport sunk a pair of free-throws to bring CSU within two (73-71). Chestnut Hill came down the court, also made a pair from the charity stripe and then Brownlee made a layup keeping the Eagles within striking distance with 41-seconds remaining.
Chestnut Hill turned the ball over with 28-seconds on the clock, but two quick jump shots by the Eagles rolled off the rim as the Griffins secured the rebound with eight seconds left. They made 1-of-2 late free-throws extending their lead to three (76-73) with a few seconds showing for Coppin State to tie it up. The final attempt from long range fell short and the horn sounded off with Chestnut Hill holding on for a 76-73 victory.
Clayton finished with a season-best shooting performance knocking down 5-of-10 made field goals and 8-of-9 made free-throws. He tied his season-high with five rebounds, four assists and two steals. Thomas set a new season-high with two assists. Treadwell finished with eight points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals. Simpson tallied ten rebounds and Brownlee led the bench scoring with eight points.
Coppin State heads to Washington, DC for their first ever meeting with the Georgetown Hoyas on Wednesday, Nov. 30 at 6:30 p.m.
