BALTIMORE –
Christian Kessee's career-high 23-point performance fueled Coppin State's 87-75 victory over Florida A&M in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) men's basketball game at the Physical Education Center Monday night.
The white-hot Kessee was a human blow-torch in finishing 8-for-14 from the field and 4-for-8 from 3-point distance. The sophomore guard also mixed in five assists, three rebounds and one blocked shot in 32 entertaining minutes. It was the first MEAC victory for head coach
Michael Grant.
"I really liked our effort tonight," Grant said. "I thought we competed and played like we're capable of playing. They got out in the passing lanes and really made it tough for Florida A&M to do anything. I thought Christian played with a lot of confidence tonight. I was also happy with how we shared the ball."
Coppin State (2-16 overall, 1-4 MEAC) used a total team effort to end its 12-game losing streak. Senior guard
Taariq Cephas stuffed the stat sheet with a season-high 22 points, six assists, six steals and five rebounds.
Arnold Fripp added 17 points along with a season-high five assists for Coppin State, which finished with a season-best 22 helpers on its 32 field goals.
Kessee had plenty of help from his teammates before, during and after Coppin State's first conference victory of the season.
You see, the root of Kessee's memorable performance began with Saturday's disappointing 0-for-9 shooting effort in a five-point loss to Bethune-Cookman. Kessee felt personally responsible for the Eagles loss. He was down, but fortunately his teammates lifted his spirits during Sunday's practice session. They never lost faith in him and kept him encouraged.
"I figured if I had made one shot against Bethune then the outcome could have been different," Kessee said. "I am a starter and not scoring really hurt the team. I had to make sure I contributed tonight and I even looked for some assists tonight too, so it was a good thing. I knew I had to be a big part of our offense tonight and knock down the shots that came my way. My teammates just told me to keep shooting and stay positive."
Kessee played with a purpose and his shooting stroke was smooth as silk against the Rattlers. Kessee opened the game by swishing his first two shot attempts, both 3-pointers. His 3-point accuracy rubbed off on the rest of the Eagles. The Eagles had suffered a power outage from beyond the arc in their last two games, making nine during that span.
Coppin State had nine 3-pointers in the opening 20 minutes as it blasted to a 49-23 halftime bulge. The Eagles finished with 12 3-pointers, the sixth time this season they made double-digits in a game this season. When Kessee opened the second half with a 3-pointer, the Eagles enjoyed a comfortable 52-23 advantage with 19:37 remaining.
"The biggest thing tonight was our defense," Kessee said. "It helped us get our offense going and get some wide open 3-point shot looks and we put them in today."
Behind Jermaine Ruttley's second consecutive double-double of 21 points and 14 rebounds, Florida A&M (0-18, 0-5) made the Eagles sweat as it sliced Coppin State's lead to 61-53 with 9:40 remaining. Quentin Bastian added 20 points and 10 rebounds off the bench for the Rattlers.
Keeping Coppin State a step ahead of Florida A&M was the play of junior
Lawrence Fejokwu, who collected five of his seven offensive rebounds in the second half. Many of the rebounds were grabbed when FAMU was rallying. He also finished with seven points. Sophomore
Jerimyjah Batts also finished with five rebounds for the Eagles.
Dallas Gary added eight points for the Eagles.
"I just felt like I hadn't played well all season for us," Fejokwu said. "I have high standards for myself and tonight coach told me to be aggressive. I went out with the mindset tonight to grab every rebound I can. We didn't like the way we played as a team on Saturday and we felt like we let coach down because we didn't play with a lot of intensity or effort."
Coppin State will look to continue the good vibes when it visits reigning MEAC Tournament champion North Carolina Central Saturday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. Coppin State will have an opportunity to end NCCU's 29-game home court winning streak, the third longest in NCAA Division I.
