PREVIEW: Men's Basketball Battles Howard in Opening Round of 2017 MEAC Tournament

NORFOLK, Va. - The No. 6 seed in the MEAC Men's Basketball Tournament, Coppin State Eagles and the No. 11 seeded Howard Bison will square off this Monday in the opening round at Scope Arena. Monday's game will mark the fifth time the teams have met in the MEAC Tournament with the Eagles winning all four meetings. Overall CSU leads the all-time series 43-21 against the Bison winning the last two meetings. Back in January, Coppin State traveled to Washington DC for their regular season meeting with the Bison. Coppin State trailed Howard early on but came back with a strong second half on the road defeating the Bison 81-72.

ABOUT THE EAGLES

• Coppin State has gone 8-23 with a 7-9 MEAC record and were seeded No. 6 entering the 2017 MEAC Men's Basketball Tournament in Norfolk, VA. The Eagles are 0-1 in the month of March after losing their regular season finale (71-66) at home to Hampton on Thursday. CSU went 3-4 in the month of February with key wins over Bethune-Cookman (76-72) and Delaware State (83-75) in back-to-back games followed by a road win at Savannah State (84-83).
• Chas Brown notched his fourth double-double of the season scoring ten points while grabbing 13 rebounds on Thursday night against the Pirates. Brown finished the regular season with 11 double-digit scoring games, led the Eagles in scoring five times and had five 10+ rebound games.
• Dejuan Clayton led the Eagles in scoring for the 12^th time this season finishing with a team-high 21 points against the Pirates. Clayton was 3-of-5 from three-point land and converted on 6-of-8 free-throws. That was his 6^th 20+ point performance of the season and 19^th double-digit scoring game. For his strong rookie season, Dejuan Clayton was named to the 2016-17 All-MEAC Rookie Team.
• The Eagles have two players who are averaging 10.0 or more points per game – Chas Brown (12.8) and Dejuan Clayton (12.1)

 
EAGLES IN THE MEAC TOURNAMENT
Coppin State has four MEAC Men's Basketball Championships last winning the crown in 2008 (90, 93, 97). Head Coach Michael Grant won both of his opening round games in his tenure at Coppin State including a thrilling double overtime win last year against NC A&T (98-91).
 
BISON & EAGLES REGULAR SEASON MEETING
The Eagles made a season-high 31 field goals shooting 57 percent from three-point range. Freshman guard Dejuan Clayton scored a career-high 28 points making 11-of-15 shots from the field and 4-of-6 from three-point range scorching the Bison defense. In the second half alone Clayton dropped 23 points hitting 9-of-10 field goals and 3-of-4 from downtown. Senior Keith Shivers had 15 points, two steals and two assists, junior Tre' Thomas scored 13 points making 3-of-5 three-pointers and senior Chas Brown grabbed a team-high five rebounds while scoring ten points.
 
REGULAR SEASON FINALE VERSUS PIRATES
The Pirates trailed by six at the half but came back to outscore the Eagles 50-37 in the second half. The Eagles made a season-best 26 free-throws on a season-high 37 attempts. Their 82 points scored was also the fourth highest mark of the season. Junior Chas Brown recorded a career-high 13 rebounds and went 8-for-16 at the charity stripe scoring ten points. Freshman Dejuan Clayton scored a team-high 21 points on 3-of-5 made three-pointers and 6-of-8 converted free-throws. Junior Tre' Thomas tied a season-high with seven made field goals scoring 18 points and senior Keith Shivers had 14 points. Senior Terry Harris Jr. had three huge blocks in the first half and finished with nine points and six rebounds. Senior Joseph Gripper was perfect from the line making all four of his free-throws.
 
CLAYTON NAMED TO 2016-17 MEAC ALL-ROOKIE TEAM
Freshman guard Dejuan Clayton was named to the 2016-17 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Men's Basketball All-Rookie Team, announced on Friday, March 3, 2017 by the conference office. In the 2016-17 regular season Clayton led the Eagles in scoring, field goals made (109), free-throws made (94), assists (94) and minutes played (32.1). The Bowie, MD native ranked 21^st in conference scoring (11.6), was sixth in assist/turnover ratio (1.7), tenth in minutes played (31.7) and 12^th in assists per game (3.1). On January 23^rd he was named the MEAC Co-Player of the Week and Co-Rookie of the Week honors. The last Coppin State player to be named to the MEAC All-Rookie Team was in the 2012 season.
 
MADE THREE-POINTERS STREAK CONTINUES FOR EAGLES
Coppin State has made at least one three-point field goal in 215 consecutive games over the past seven seasons; which is the current longest streak in the nation. The last time the Eagles were unable to register a made three-pointer in a game was back on Feb. 22, 2010 at Delaware State (0-8).
 
BROWN NAMED MEAC MEN'S BASKETALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Junior Chas Brown was named Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Men's Basketball Player of the Week, announced on Monday, February 27, 2017. Brown led Coppin State to its third win in four games after recording his third consecutive game with 12 rebounds and scored 19 points for his third double-double of the season. He tied a season-best in rebounds and marked season-highs in both blocks with four and field goals made with nine. The 6-8 junior from Baltimore shot 75 percent from the field and was the MEAC's top shot blocker last week along with the league's second-leading rebounder.