NORFOLK, Va. – After leading by nine points at the half, Coppin State's men's basketball team shot just 26.9% from the floor in the second half as Morgan State defeated the Eagles, 82-61 in the MEAC Semifinals Friday night at Scope Arena. Coppin now stands at 9-13 overall after winning its first regular season conference title since the 2003-04 season.
Yuat Alok notched his first career double-double with 17 points and a career-high 11 rebounds while making 7-of-10 from the floor, including a pair of 3-pointers. Fifteen points and ten of his rebounds came in the first half.
MEAC Rookie of the Year
Nendah Tarke also finished in double figures, recording 15 points, seven rebounds and two steals.
Anthony Tarke, who took home Player and Defensive Player of the Year accolades, added ten points, four rebounds, two blocks and a steal before exiting.
DeJuan Clayton added nine points and dished out eight assists and fellow senior
Koby Thomas chipped in with six points and six rebounds.
Dwaine Jones, Jr., also contributed with four points while spelling Clayton at the point.
Coppin led the entire first half, jumping out to an early five point out before pounding the ball to Alok. After Morgan tied the score at 12-12 on a three, Alok hit a mid-range jumper and then stretched it out to behind-the-arc before
Anthony Tarke drove in for a layup, giving the Eagles a 19-12 lead with 8:25 left in the first.
The Bears stayed in the game, cutting the deficit to three points with just under three minutes remaining but Alok nailed a jump hook with 2:32 remaining and sunk another three 30 seconds later at the 2:02 mark. Clayton hit a free throw with 1:18 remaining to give CSU its largest lead of the game at 36-27.
After making just 1-of-2 free throws in the first half, Morgan hit three early free throws to start the second half and went on a 13-2 run to open the period and take a 40-38 lead. Clayton answered with a free throw and
Nendah Tarke converted on a three-point play to retake the lead before the Bears tied it back up at 42-42 with two more free throws.
Nendah Tarke answered with a steal and threw down a breakaway slam at the other end, but that was Coppin's last field goal until the 8:37 mark, at which time, the Bears extended their lead to 60-49. Morgan State answered Alok's jumper with two more from the stripe before Tarke hit another three to lessen the deficit to 62-54 with 8:19 to play.
That would be as close as the Eagles got the rest of the way as Morgan outscored Coppin, 20-7 the rest of the way.
