ORANGEBURG, S.C. – Freshman
Dejuan Clayton finished with 26 points and senior
Terry Harris Jr. scored 23 points in an 84-79 road loss to South Carolina State University on Saturday, February 18
th in the S-H-M Memorial Center.
Coppin State drops to 6-7 in the MEAC while South Carolina State improves to 6-8 in conference play. The Eagles made their second most field goals of the season (28) and also blocked their second most shots (4).
Dejuan Clayton scored all 26 points in the second. He was 7-of-15 from the field and made only one three-pointer, but excelled at getting to the basket and drawing fouls. Clayton recorded a season-high 11 made free-throws on 13 attempts.
Terry Harris Jr. paced the CSU first half scoring with nine points. Harris went 7-for-15 from the field, 6-of-8 free-throws and made his only three-point attempt notching 23 points. Junior
Chas Brown tied a season-high with 12 rebounds and also tied a season-high with two blocked shots. Sophomore
Lucian Brownlee carried the bench scoring with eight points and senior
Joshua Treadwell finished with seven points.
The Eagles fell behind early and trailed 12-2 within the first five minutes of action. SCSU shot the ball well in the first half on 51-percent (15-29) from the field and 73-percent (8-11) from the charity stripe. Coppin State had a slow start and made only ten first half field goals (36%), 2-of-9 three-pointers (22%) and 4-of-9 free-throws (44%). Brownlee made a pair of shots from downtown and Harris made three free-throws with the Bulldogs expanding their lead to 42-26 by halftime.
Clayton took over in the second half and sparked the CSU rally with his aggressive play. Trailing the Bulldogs (47-31) at the 17-minute mark, the Eagles got to the free-throw line nine times over the next five minutes. By the 10:20 mark Clayton and the Eagles trimmed the deficit to 51-49 and then he scored the next three points to put Coppin State in the lead (52-51).
In the final ten minutes of action South Carolina State converted on timely free-throws to build back up their lead. SCSU took a 71-61 advantage with 1:25 left to play and evened the season series with the Eagles with an 84-79 win at home.
Five Bulldogs scored in double figures led by Eric Eaves 18 points and James Richardson's 16 both coming from the bench. In total South Carolina State made 25-of-32 free-throws.
Coppin State will play their third to last regular season game of the season on Monday, February 20
th at Savannah State University at 7:30 p.m.
