DURHAM, N.C. –Coppin State's men's basketball team fell victim to a couple of large runs by North Carolina Central on Saturday afternoon and dropped a 81-61 MEAC game on Saturday afternoon at McDougald-McLendon Arena. Coppin falls to 1-18 overall and 1-3 in the MEAC while NC Central moves to 9-8 with a 3-0 mark in conference play.
Cedric Council got Coppin out of the gates strong following the momentum of last Monday's victory over Florida A&M with five-straight points to open the game. After a tip-in by NC Central,
Lamar Morgan hit a pair of free throws and
Tre' Thomas buried a jumper to give the Navy & Gold a 9-2 lead with 15:22 left in the first but Central ran off 14-straight points to take a seven point lead with 9:46 remaining.
Karonn Davis finally stopped the bleeding with a three with 9:15 left, and the deficit fluctuated up and down before Central went into the break with a 34-26 lead after
Taqwain Drummond hit a three just before the buzzer.
With the game still within reach midway through the second,
Larry McKnight then scored eight points during an 11-0 NC Central run to extend its lead to 25 with 6:40 remaining in the game.
Council led Coppin with 14 points and seven rebounds while Davis was the only other player for Coppin in double figures with 11. Thomas added nine points off the bench and Morgan chipped in with eight.
Pablo Rivas led all scorers with 23 points and also pulled down 14 rebounds for NC Central, who outshot Coppin, 50.9% to 34.5%.
Coppin returns to action on Monday, January 15 at North Carolina A&T.
