GREENSBORO, N.C. – While it was snowing in Baltimore, it was raining treys inside of the Corbett Sports Center thanks to the Coppin State men's basketball team.
The visiting Eagles sank 11 3-pointers, had three of its four players who reached double figures achieve career-highs, rallied from an early 11-point first-half deficit and took control midway through the second half to defeat North Carolina A&T, 84-71, in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) contest Monday night.
The victory for Coppin State (3-17 overall, 2-4 MEAC) was its first road triumph of the
Michael Grant era. It was a solid performance for the Eagles, who rebounded from a tough Saturday setback against North Carolina Central, to beat the Aggies for the second straight season and enjoy a happy bus trip back to North Avenue.
"We're playing better and we're finding a way to win," Grant said. "I feel good with how we are playing right now. I feel good about the way we're sharing the ball, playing together as a team and taking care of the ball."
Coppin State has won two of its last three games while wearing its gold uniforms.
For the third straight contest, Coppin State's 3-pointers fell like snowflakes in falling through the net. Velvety soft, beautiful and feathery. The Eagles, who sank nine or more 3-pointers for the 14th time this season, have made 33 triples over their last three games.
Leading Coppin State's dynamite offensive show was junior guard
Sterling Smith, who tied a career-high with 24 points. Smith was 9-for-15 from the field and 6-of-11 from 3-point distance. It was the second time this season Smith finished with at least 20 points. Smith punctuated Coppin State's victory with a beautiful one-handed breakaway dunk with under two minutes remaining.
Senior forward
Dallas Gary continued his yeoman's work in his new sixth-man role by scoring a career-high 18 points and collecting a career best three steals. He was aggressive around the basket and strong with the ball in traffic as he tallied 13 of his points in the second half. He scored 83.8 percent of his points (26 of 31 points) after intermission during the Eagles' two games in North Carolina.
Sophomore guard
Christian Kessee reached double figures in scoring for the third consecutive game with 13 points. He made all three of his 3-point shot attempts. Junior guard
Shomari Triggs was huge in the second half, scoring eight of his career-high 10 points after intermission.
Once again, the director of Eagle express was senior guard
Taariq Cephas who was masterful in packaging eight assists, seven rebounds and six points in 39 electric minutes. Cephas upped his career assist total to 395. He needs five to become the third Coppin State men's basketball player in school history to reach 400 career assists.
For the second straight game, Coppin State guarded the ball like it was a piece of sacred gold in committing six turnovers.
It took some time for Coppin State to assume control as North Carolina A&T opened a pair of 11-point leads in the opening 20 minutes and two six-point advantages in the first five minutes of the second half.
Trailing 37-26 with five minutes, 47 seconds remaining in the first half, Coppin State closed the first half with a 13-2 run to force a 39-39 halftime tie. Showcasing their balance, five different Eagles scored during the run to get Coppin State even.
However, North Carolina A&T started the second half strong. The Aggies opened a 53-47 lead with 15:03 left before the Eagles went berserk unleashing a 15-2 blitz that gave them the separation they needed. Smith drained a 3-pointer to give Coppin State the lead for good, 56-55, with 10:28 remaining.
During the second half, Coppin State held North Carolina A&T without a field goal for a stretch of 12 minutes, 13 seconds. The Aggies only points during that span came from the foul line. The Aggies got to within, 62-59 with 8:30 left. That would be as close as they would get as Coppin State sprinted to the finish by making timely baskets, getting defensive stops and playing with poise down the stretch.
North Carolina A&T was led by Bruce Beckford's double-double (18 points and 10 rebounds).
"When we fell behind by 11 points, we tightened our defense and that got us back in the game," Grant said. "In the second half, we did a much better job of making them take tougher shots. We also did a better job in the post with allowing them one shot and rebounding better. Taariq did a great job of playing fast and finding the open guy and playing fast."
Coppin State returns to action Saturday afternoon when it travels across the Bay Bridge to meet in-state rival Maryland Eastern Shore at 4:00 p.m. The Eagles have three road games remaining this season and they don't leave the state of Maryland for two of them.
UPCOMING PROMOTION (Gold Out)Coppin State is painting the Physical Education Complex Arena gold for its nationally-televised showdown against Morgan State on Monday, February 2. The men's game, which begins at 7:00 p.m. will air on ESPNU. The women's game starts at 4:00 p.m. and both contests will be part of a "Gold Out" as fans are encouraged to wear gold.
