BALTIMORE, Md. – Coppin State surrendered a double-digit second half lead falling to Norfolk State University, 74-64 in the Physical Education Complex on Monday, January 23, 2017. Junior
Tre' Thomas led three Eagles in double figure scoring with 14 points.
Thomas carried the scoring load with three three-point field goals in a team-high 35 minutes played. He also made 3-of-4 free-throws. Freshman
Dejuan Clayton had 12 points, converting on 5-of-8 free-throws while dishing out seven assists. Senior
Chas Brown followed with 11 points, a team-high seven rebounds and tied a season-high with two blocked shots. Senior
Joshua Treadwell led the bench soring with eight points along with sophomore
Lucian Brownlee's six points on a pair of made three-pointers.
Coppin State had a strong opening half shooting 48-percent (12-25) from the field compared to Norfolk State's struggling 24-percent (6-25). A huge dunk by
Chas Brown ignited the Eagles giving CSU an early 9-7 lead with 15:12 left in the half. Coppin State went on to score 14 straight points by the 10:15 mark and hopped out to a 21-7 advantage.
Lucian Brownlee's first three-pointer of the half gave the Eagles their biggest lead of the night at 16 (27-11) with 4:49 to go.
CSU's bench outscored NSU's bench 13-3 in the first half and the Eagles drained six three-pointers. At the half Coppin State carried a 34-22 advantage into the locker room.
Early on in the second half the Eagles continued to prosper after back-to-back three-pointers by Thomas and senior
Terry Harris Jr. Brown's dunk with 16:07 on the clock was the final highlight for the Eagles as the Spartans began to take charge in the final 13-minutes.
NSU's Jonathan Wade brought the lead to single digits (43-36) after a three-pointer and then CSU began to go 1-for-2 at the charity stripe over the next six attempts. The Spartans Kyle Williams three-pointer at the 5:26 mark of the half brought Coppin State's advantage to one (55-54). The Eagles continued to struggle and then Norfolk State finally took the lead 56-55 with 4:37 remaining.
In the second half Norfolk State improved their shooting to 67-percent (19-28) and 76-percent from the free-throw line. Coppin State trended in the opposite direction shooting 38-percent from the field (7-18) and a miserable 48-percent from the charity stripe (14-29). With under a minute to play, NSU's lead grew to double-digits as they held on for a road win over Coppin State, 74-64.
Coppin State drops to 5-16 overall and 4-2 in MEAC play while Norfolk State moves to 7-13 overall and 4-2 in the conference.
Norfolk State's Jonathan Wade scored 13 of his game-high 23 points in the second half while Zaynah Robinson had ten of his 14 points in the final half also.
The Eagles return to action on Saturday, January 28th at 4 p.m. against rival Morgan State inside the PEC.
