BALTIMORE – A career-high 22 points from
Kyle Cardaci were not enough as Coppin State's men's basketball team dropped a 66-58 decision to South Carolina State on Saturday afternoon at PEC Arena. The Eagles fall to 4-4 in the MEAC while the Bulldogs improve to 5-3 in conference play.
Cardaci made 7-of-16 from the floor with four 3-pointers and made 4-of-6 free throws to match his career-high, set earlier this season. A redshirt sophomore from Holmdel, N.J., Cardaci now has 46 trifectas on the season.
Justin Steers notched a double-double with 12 points and ten rebounds to go with a pair of assists and blocks.
Nendah Tarke also finished in double figures with 11 points to go with eight rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Sita Conteh also chipped in with eight points in just 15 minutes off the bench.
Coppin started out on fire, jumping out to a 16-4 lead as Cardaci hit three 3-pointers in the first 4:09 of the game. The lead quickly diminished before the Eagles ramped it back up to 26-16 at the 8:30 mark of the first half.
South Carolina State bounced right back with a 14-0 run to take the lead and went into the break on top, 33-29. The Bulldogs led by as many as 42-31 with a 9-2 spurt to start the second half, but CSU fought back to a single possession three different times in the final 20 minutes.
After Steers hit a pair of free throws with 3:16 remaining, the teams traded buckets, but South Carolina State scored the next four points to help secure the victory.
Coppin shot just 30.4% from the floor, compared to 38.5% for the Bulldogs, who also outrebounds CSU by a 49-35 margin.
The Eagles will be right back in action on Monday, February 14 when they host N.C. Central in a 7 pm tipoff on ESPNU.
