BALTIMORE, Md. – The Eagles came up short on the road to rival Morgan State University, 71-66 on Monday, February 27
th at the Hill Field House. Coppin State trailed by as many as 19 points in the second half before cutting the deficit to two with under a minute left in regulation.
Freshman Dejaun Clayton led the Eagles in scoring with 20 points on 5-of-9 made field goals, 3-of-4 three-pointers and a perfect 7-of-7 from the free-throw line. Junior
Chas Brown was the other Eagle in double figure scoring finishing with 18 points on 8-of-13 made shots from the field. Brown was a force in the paint with several slam dunks on the Bear defenders while leading CSU in rebounds with seven. Senior
Joshua Treadwell led the Eagles bench scoring with eight points and senior
Keith Shivers tied a career-best with four steals and six points. Senior
Joseph Gripper finished with a season-best three steals
Clayton had 11 first half points leading the Eagles in scoring. Clayton made all four of his free-throws in a half dominated by the Bears.
CSU's
Tre' Thomas gave the Eagles an 8-6 early lead on his first made three-pointer of the game. Morgan State responded with an 11-0 run taking a 19-8 advantage at the 10:58 mark. Clayton's layup ended the five minute drought for Coppin State. The Eagles shot 36-percent from the field on 9-of-25 made first half field goals. Thomas, Clayton and Treadwell were the Eagles to make first half three-pointers, but Moran State shot the ball well from the field on 44-percent (15-34).
In the final three minutes of the first half Morgan State increased their lead to double-digits and carried a 43-28 advantage into halftime.
Morgan State maintained their lead for the first nine minutes of the second half. Coppin State continued to struggle with missed shots but their defensive pressure picked up resulting in 13 second half turnovers for the Bears.
The Eagles came up with a timely steal at the 3:55 mark that was vital to their rally from behind. Shivers came up with the loose ball and converted the bucket and shortly after Gripper's offensive rebound after a missed free-throw led to a three-pointer by Clayton trimming the lead to single digits (64-55). Brown scored the next two baskets for Coppin State as Morgan watched their large advantage shrink to just five (64-59) with 2:15 left in regulation.
Then, Clayton was fouled behind the three-point line and converted on all three of his attempts with under two minutes to go (64-62) before Morgan State's Tiwain Kendley ended the CSU run with a layup at the 1:49 mark. CSU answered back with a vicious offensive rebound and slam dunk by Brown bringing the game to a two point margin, but once again the Bears quickly responded with a layup (68-64).
Down the stretch, Morgan State held a 68-66 lead after Gripper's layup. Coppin State fouled the Bears quickly and sent them to the charity stripe where they missed and the Eagles regained possession with 25-seconds left.
Coppin State was forced into their 17
th turnover of the night and had to send the Bears to the free-throw line. Morgan State made both free-throws sealing the season sweep over the Eagles, 71-66. Despite the loss, the Eagles turned things around in the second half improving their shooting from the field from 36-percent to 41-percent.
Morgan State had four finish in double figure scoring led by Kendley's 21 points. Phillip Carr had ten points and ten rebounds while David Syfax also had a double-double of 11 points and ten rebounds.
Coppin State will close out the regular season on Thursday, March 2
nd at 7:30 pm against Hampton in the Physical Education Complex.
