WASHINGTON, D.C. – Four Eagles finished in double figures as the Coppin State men's basketball team held on for a 64-56 MEAC victory over Howard on Monday night at Burr Gymnasium.
Inside the Numbers
- Koby Thomas led Coppin with 16 points and eight rebounds while Brendan Medley-Bacon recorded his third double-double of the season with 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting to go with 12 rebounds.
- Andrew Robinson made three 3-pointers to finish with 12 points and Dejuan Clayton added ten points with five rebounds, four assists and two steals.
- Ibn Williams chipped in with six points and, five assists and three steals and Reggie James added five more.
- CSU outshot Howard, 46.8% to 35.5% and held a 40-31 rebounding advantage.
- Coppin let Howard climb back into the game as the Eagles made just 14-of-29 free throws (8-of-20 in the second half) and committed 11 second half turnovers.
How it Happened
- Coppin and Howard battled for position early on, but after the Bison took a 9-7 lead with a pair of free throws the Eagles went on the first run of the game with eight-straight points, including back-to-back threes by Reggie James and Andrew Robinson.
- The Bison answered right back with a slam, but James tomahawked one of his own before another Howard jumper to cut CSU's lead to 17-13 with 11:11 left in the first.
- Koby Thomas then threw down a slam, followed by a putback jam before two more triples from Robinson and Ibn Williams to make it a 27-13 score at the 6:09 mark.
- Howard did not go away as it scored unanswered buckets, but after a pair of free throws by Thomas and Robinson's third 3-pointer of the period, the Eagles played a great two-man game with Williams and Dejuan Clayton feeding Brendan Medley-Bacon inside for easy points.
- Coppin led 37-22 at the half, holding the Bison to just 27.3% shooting and scoring 12 points off turnovers.
- Thomas scored the first five points of the second half with a three from the corner and another dunk as the Eagles extended their lead to 44-23 with 16:27 remaining.
- Coppin started to relax and became careless with the ball as Howard climbed back into the game with a 15-4 run before Thomas stopped the run with a breakaway dunk and a tip-in, making it a 52-41 score with 6:43 left to play.
- A mid-range jumper by Robinson extended the lead back to 13 points but once again the Bison came right back as Charles Williams scored five-straight with 4:09 to go, forcing a Coppin timeout at 54-46.
- The hosts hit another three, cutting the deficit to just six points before calling a timeout and started to foul on the defensive end as the Eagles were shooting 1-and-1. CSU made the front half and after another Howard bucket, the Bison called another timeout with 1:39 left, trailing just 59-54.
- Clayton was fouled out of the break and hit a pair of free throws and Williams hit one more to extend the lead back to 62-54 with just over a minute remaining to seal the win.
Up Next: Coppin is back home for a pair of MEAC games, starting with North Carolina Central at 4 pm on Saturday, February 8. Two nights later, the Eagles host Maryland Eastern Shore in a 7:30 pm start.
