BALTIMORE – Coppin State's men's basketball team cut a 16-point first half deficit to just four points midway through the second half, but Morgan State pulled away to defeat the Eagles, 95-82, on Tuesday night at PEC Arena. CSU now stands at 6-11 overall and 5-3 in the MEAC while the Bears improve to 10-4 on the year and 5-2 in league play.
Anthony Tarke added another double-double to his resume, recording game-highs with 22 points and ten rebounds along with four assists, two steals and two blocks. Tarke made 7-of-11 shots from the floor and 8-of-11 from the free throw line.
Nendah Tarke contributed 19 points and six rebounds off the bench while hitting 6-of-11 field goals and 6-of-8 from the stripe.
Yuat Alok was the only other Coppin player to reach double figures with ten points and seven rebounds.
Koby Thomas and
Kyle Cardaci added seven points apiece,
DeJuan Clayton chipped in with six points and five assists and
Isaiah Gross pitched in with five points.
Morgan jumped out to an early 9-0 lead with three-straight 3-pointers and extended its lead to 20-4 at the first media timeout with 14:32 left in the first half. Six of the Bears' first seven field goals were from distance.
With just over a minute left in the half, Coppin closed to within 48-42 as
Anthony Tarke hustled to grab a rebound near the end line and tossed it ahead to his brother
Nendah Tarke for a breakaway slam.
Morgan answered with a lay-in at the other end to make it a 50-42 score at the break.
Morgan came out firing once again after the break, but
Anthony Tarke did not let the Bears get away as he led a 7-0 CSU run to help the Eagles pull within 68-64 with 10:51 remaining.
The Bears answered with six-straight points and Coppin got no closer than 76-69 with 8:25 to go after a pair of free throws by
Nendah Tarke.
The Eagles narrowly outshot the Bears, 44.4% to 42.9% but Morgan made 13 shots from behind the arc and all 22 of its free throws. Coppin made just 6-of-27 from deep and 20-of-30 from the line.
Six players, all of whom reached double figures, did all the scoring for Morgan. De'Torrion Ware led the way with 20 points. Malik Miller and Lagio Grantsaan both had double-doubles.
CSU returns to action on February 6-7 when its travels to take on Norfolk State in back-to-back 2 pm starts.
