BALTIMORE, Md. – Lucian Brownlee scored a career-high 25 points with seven 3-pointers but the Coppin State men's basketball team fell to Bethune Cookman, 89-85, on Saturday afternoon at PEC Arena. The loss drops the eagles to 5-23 overall and 5-8 in the MEAC while the Wildcats improve to 15-12 with a 9-3 mark in conference play.
Brownlee came off the bench to sink 8-of-13 from the floor and 7-of-12 from behind the arc. A junior from Lawnside, N.J., Brownlee came into the game averaging just over four points per game with a previous career-high of 17 points against Savannah State earlier this year.
Also reaching double figures for Coppin was
Lamar Morgan with 18,
Chad Andrews-Fulton with 12 and
Karonn Davis with 11. Andrews-Fulton notched his first career double-double as he pulled down ten rebounds to go with three assists and three steals while Davis dished out eight assists.
Cedric Council also had a solid showing with eight points, five rebounds and three assists.
Coppin led by as many as 27-16 with 9:49 left in the first half after a layup by Andrews-Fulton. The teams then traded baskets but Bethune made the score a one-possession game with 7:33 left in the period. The lead fluctuated up to seven but the Wildcats scored the final four points of the half and the Eagles led 43-40 at the break.
Bethune shot an impressive 48.0% from the floor in the second half and made 22-of-31 free throws compared to just 36.4% for the Eagles and 12-of-15 from the line. The Wildcats finished making 36-of-46 free throws as the period featured 33 personal fouls and five technical fouls.
With the game still to be thought in doubt, Coppin received a double technical with 5:28 remaining and the Wildcats were able to extend a four point lead to as many as 81-67 with 1:59 left to play.
Following a layup by Brownlee with 1:48 remaining, Coppin called timeout and a major rally attempt was on. Following a Bethune turnover, Andrews-Fulton grabbed a rebound and was fouled going up. A dead-ball technical was called on the Wildcats and Andrews-Fulton and Morgan made all four free throws to cut the deficit to 81-73 with 1:39 remaining.
A layup by Soufiyane Diakite stopped the bleeding for Bethune but Brownlee came back with his first of three triples in the final 66 ticks left to make the score 83-76. Following a Bethune miss, Brownlee buried another three with 46 seconds to make it a four point game at 83-79.
Coppin was forced to foul down the stretch after a couple of misses and after the Wildcats made 1-of-2 from the line, Kent
Auslander hit a three with 21 seconds remaining (84-82).
Brandon Tabb, who scored a game-high 34 points with 13-of-14 at the line, hit a pair of free throws before Brownlee's final three came with nine seconds left to cut the deficit to a single point. Tabb was then fouled, made his first free throw but missed the second and Diakite was able to secure the rebound for Bethune as Coppin was unable to get a possible game-tying shot up.
The Eagles return to action on Monday, February 19 when they travel to Delaware State for a 7:30 pm MEAC tipoff.
