NORFOLK, Va. – Coppin State men's basketball were eliminated in the opening round of the 2017 MEAC Men's Basketball Tournament to Howard, 79-73, on Monday, March 6, 2017 at Scope Arena. The Eagles recorded a season-high 28 made free-throws on 48 total attempts compared to 38-of-56 from Howard.
Coppin State ends their 2016-17 season with an 8-24 overall record. Sophomore
Lucian Brownlee scored a career-high 16 points all in the second half hitting 3-of-4 three-pointers and 5-of-6 free-throws. Freshman
Dejuan Clayton finished with a game-high 23 points converting on 10-of-18 free-throws and 3-of-8 shots from three-point land. Junior
Chas Brown added nine points, two blocked shots and two rebounds while senior
Joshua Treadwell had a team-high seven rebounds with six points against the Bison.
Howard had a solid first half holding the Eagles to only six made field goals on 28-percent shooting from the field. The Eagles made 9-of-15 first half free-throws with Clayton leading the way on a perfect 4-for-4. Clayton and Brown both had seven points at the break while junior
Tre' Thomas added five points.
The Eagles got off to a quick start with an early 5-0 advantage in the beginning of the game and took their final lead of the game at the 14:21 mark in the first half (9-8) on a Clayton made free-throw. Howard led the rest of the game and right before halftime stretched their advantage to double-digits (33-22).
In the second half Howard went ahead by as many as 18 points within the first five minutes. The momentum shifted towards Coppin State's direction at the 13:03 mark when Brownlee was inserted into the lineup. Brownlee sparked the Eagles second half comeback with his first made three (50-36) at the 10:56 mark. Howard began to struggle offensively in the final ten minutes with only one made field goal but were fortunate to convert enough free-throws to keep their lead.
Coppin State got the deficit down to three (70-67) with 58-seconds left on a Clayton made free-throw. Clayton scored 16 of his 23 points in the second half but the Eagles as a team shot 57-percent (19-33) from the charity stripe. Down by double-digits CSU got back into the game with six second half three-pointers but in the end could never get over the hump as Howard went on to win 79-73.
Head men's basketball coach
Michael Grant and his coaching staff said goodbye to six seniors;
Keith Shivers, Terry Harris, Jr.,
Joshua Treadwell,
Mufaro Murinda and
Joseph Gripper. The Eagles freshman
Dejuan Clayton was named to the All-MEAC Rookie Team and will look to lead the Eagles in his upcoming sophomore season.
