BALTIMORE, Md. – Four players scored in double figures for Coppin State, but it was not enough as the Eagles fell to UMBC, 81-74 on Tuesday night at RAC Arena. Coppin falls to 0-11 on the year while the Retrievers now stand at 7-5.
Karonn Davis scored a career-high 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting along with five rebounds and four assists while
Adam Traore tallied a season-high 14 points.
Tre' Thomas added 11 points off the bench and
Lamar Morgan added ten more as the Eagles got four players in double figures for the first time this season.
The Eagles got ahead early in the game, but after
KeAndre Fair nailed a three with 8:40 left in the first half, UMBC went on an 18-0 run over six-plus minutes to take a 40-25 lead. Thomas stopped the bleeding with a pair of jumpers but the Retrievers went into the break with a 43-29 advantage.
Five-straight points by UMBC to open the second gave the Black & Gold its largest lead with 19:00 minutes remaining but a tip-in by Traore sparked a Coppin State run as the Eagles clawed their way back into the game.
Lucian Brownlee ended the 14-0 run with a pair of three's to cut UMBC's lead to 48-43 with 14:17 left.
Following a UMBC timeout,
Jairus Lyles (27 points) nailed consecutive triples to extend the lead back to double figures, but once again CSU did not go down without a fight. Davis responded with a layup and recored ten points during an extended run that lasted nearly eight minutes.
A jumper by Davis with 5:04 left cut the deficit to just 63-60 but once again Lyles was there for UMBC, hitting a triple from the corner followed by a pair of free throws. Davis then hit a jumper for CSU and
Cedric Council threw down a two-handed slam to close the lead to just four points with 2:39 remaining but the Eagles would not get any closer.
Coppin outshot UMBC, 45.2% to 40.0% but the Retrievers made 14 shots from distance and made 19-of-25 from the line compared to just 9-of-16 for Coppin from the stripe. Twenty of UMBC's 24 field goals were assisted as
KJ Maura dished out eight assists on the day and sealed the victory by going 6-of-6 on free throws, all of which came in the final 1:30.
Up next for the Eagles is a trip to Morgantown, W.Va., as Coppin will take on No. 11 West Virginia on Wednesday, December 20 in a 7 pm tipoff.
