PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Coppin State University's men's basketball team trailed by just six points going into the second half but Rutgers University pulled away to defeat the Eagles, 64-39 on Sunday afternoon at The RAC. The Navy & Gold now stand at 0-5 on the year while the Scarlet Knights improve to 4-0.
Faced with a 28-22 deficit at the half, Rutgers outscored Coppin, 36-17 in the second half as the Eagles shot just 29.2% from the floor in the period. Coppin also attempted just one free throw in the period, it's only shot from the stripe the entire game as the Scarlet Knights made 14-of-28 from the line.
Tre' Thomas led the Eagles with ten points off the bench while
Karonn Davis added eight, all of which came in the first half, along with four rebounds and four assists.
Lamar Morgan also grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds while
Dejuan Clayton and
Joel Boyce chipped in with six points apiece.
Trailing 7-2 with 14:35 left in the first half, Coppin scored nine-straight points with three-straight field goals from downtown by Clayton, Thomas and Davis over the next 2:36 to take 11-7 lead. From there, Rutgers went on an extended run and led 26-13 with 4:17 remaining but the Eagles clawed their way back to cut the deficit prior to the half.
Rutgers, who was led by Eugene Omoruyi's 19 points, scored the first five points of the second half to get its lead back to double figures, but following a three by Morgan, that would be as close as Coppin would get the rest of the way.
The Eagles will be back on the hardwood on Tuesday, November 21 when they travel to Central Connecticut State for a 7 pm tipoff. Following that game, Coppin, which would have played four games in just six days, will have ten days before its next game at Ohio University on Friday, December 1.
