BALTIMORE – In front of a raucous homecoming crowd,
Sam Sessoms put up a season-high 37 points on a NCAA-era school-record 16 field goals, but it was not enough as the Coppin State men's basketball team fell to Howard, 80-70, on Saturday afternoon at PEC Arena. The Eagles now stand at 6-21 overall and 1-9 in the MEAC while the Bison improve to 17-10 on the year and 9-1 in league play.
Inside the Numbers
- Sessoms scored his 37 points on a career-best 16-of-25 shooting while adding seven rebounds, five assists and four steals. His 16 made field goals is the second-most ever by a CSU player, and the most in CSU's NCAA era.
- The most field goals ever recorded by a CSU player was 21 by Hall of Famer Tony Carter against Bowie State on February 7, 1976, the year that Coppin won the NAIA National Championship.
- It was the eighth time that Sessoms' has gone over 30 points in his career and the fourth-highest scoring output of his career. The 37 points are tied for ninth-most in CSU single-game history, and the fourth-most in Coppin's NCAA era.
- Sessoms now has 2,304 career points, the fifth-most among active NCAA players
- Nendah Tarke finished a rebound shy of a double-double, recording 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting, and nine rebounds.
- Mike Hood added 11 points, but the rest of the team scored five points.
- Coppin outshot Howard, 44.4% to 42.9%, but the Bison hit 16 3-pointers compared to just five for the Eagles.
- Elijah Hawkins led Howard with 20 points and nine assists while Jordan Wood went for 19 points.
How it Happened
- Howard got out of the gates quick, hitting a pair of threes to open the game before Coppin exploded for a 17-3 run with Sessoms putting up 11 of those points while assisting on one of Tarke's two 3-pointers.
- The Eagles maintained the lead until Howard regrouped and scored 12-straight points to get back on top, 28-25 with 3:55 remaining.
- Coppin's trio of Sessoms, Tarke and Hood went toe-to-toe with the visitors the remainder of the period as Howard went into the break with a 37-33 lead.
- Tarke started the second half with a pair of layups to make it a two-point deficit before the Bison hit back-to-back threes to extend the lead back to nine.
- Coppin wasn't able to get any closer than seven points, but looked like it would get the momentum following a highlight slam from Kam'Ron Blue at the 5:32 mark to make it a 66-58 score.
- Howard answered with a second-chance three at the other end to extend its advantage back into double digits and Coppin was unable to get over the hump.
Up Next: Coppin travels to play Norfolk State on Monday, February 20 in a 7:30 tipoff. The gae will air of HBCU League Pass+ and WNSB 91.1 FM.
