BALTIMORE – Coppin State's
Nendah Tarke hit a buzzer-beater from a few feet behind halfcourt to give the Eagles a 79-76 victory over archrival Morgan State on Saturday evening at the Bears' Hill Field House. The Eagles improve to 2-0 in MEAC play while the Bears' conference record evens up at 1-1.
After
Jesse Zarzuela's layup with six seconds to go gave Coppin a 76-75 lead, Morgan made 1-of-2 free throws to tie the score with just over a second remaining.
Tyree Corbett inbounded the ball to Tarke by the free throw line and after a pair of dribbles, Tarke launched a heave that found the bottom of the net.
Tarke's game-winning shot gave him a career-high 22 points as he also added ten rebounds for his third double-double of the season. One of the Nation's leaders in steals, Tarke was credited with four swipes on the day.
Zarzuela and Corbett also finished in double figures, recording 11 and ten points, respectively, while
Justin Steers added nine points.
Kyle Cardaci and
Remy Lemovou, who was making his season debut, chipped in with six points apiece.
Mike Hood tallied five points, followed by
Sita Conteh with four and both
Daniel Titus and
Isaiah Gross with three. In the start,
Greg Spurlock finished with five rebound, three assists and a pair of blocks.
Coppin shot an impressive 48.2% from the field and made 21 free throws on the day but its 56.8% percentage from the stripe allowed Morgan to stay in the game despite shooting just 39.1% from the floor.
Morgan State led early in the game and extended its lead to as many as 23-12 with 8:47 left in the first and held on to a 42-32 advantage at the break.
After trading points to start the second half, Coppin went on a 13-2 run to take its first lead of the game at 47-46 on a steal and breakaway layup by Tarke who had nine of the team's points during the stretch. Morgan retook the lead at the other end before Gross buried a three for Coppin.
The Eagles maintained a small lead until the Bears hit a three with 53 seconds to go back on top, 73-72. Steers was credited with a tip-in following a pair of loose-ball efforts, giving CSU the advantage with 35 ticks left to force a Morgan State timeout who regained the lead with 16 seconds left.
CSU returns to action on Saturday, January 22 for a MEAC matchup at Norfolk State. Tipoff is slated for 6 pm and can be heard on Blazin' Hot 91 by logging on to
www.coppinstatesports.com
