CLEVELAND, Ohio – Despite a season-high 20 points by
Dejuan Clayton, Coppin State University's men's basketball team lost at Cleveland State University, 80-56, on Friday night at the Vikings' Wolstein Center as part of the Showcase on the Banks. Playing their second game in as many days, the Eagles now stand at 0-4 on the year.
A sophomore from Bowie, Md., Clayton made 9-of-19 shots from the floor with two of his shots coming from three-point range. Clayton also grabbed four rebounds and dished out a pair of assists.
Unfortunately, Clayton's performance was not enough as the Vikings (1-2), led by
Kenny Carpenter's 26 points, made 54.9% of its shots and 14 threes on the night. Coppin State shot just 33.3% from the floor, were out-rebounded and were only credited with six assists compared to 17 for Cleveland State.
The Vikings led the entire game, scoring the first five points and opened an 11-2 advantage as Carpenter sunk three shots from downtown in the opening 3:10.
Coppin would cut the lead to as little as five points the rest of the way while the Green & White took a 41-24 lead into the half. Cleveland State started the second period with a pair of threes and led by as many as 32 points.
Adam Traore also had the best game of his young career for the Eagles, recording a season-high 12 points and eight rebounds. Traore made all seven of his free throws on the night.
Freshmen
KeAndre Fair and
Taqwain Drummond also chipped in with six and five points, respectively off the bench for the Navy & Gold.
Coppin State returns to action on Sunday, November 19 when it travels to face Rutgers in a 12:30 pm tipoff.
