Men’s Hoops Falls to Third-Seeded Norfolk State in MEAC Quarterfinals

NORFOLK, Va. – The season for Coppin State's men's basketball team came to an end in the MEAC Quarterfinals with a 73-56 loss to Norfolk State on Saturday night at Scope Arena. The Eagles finish with a 9-23 record.
 
Inside the Numbers

• Mike Hood scored a team-high 18 points with three 3-pointers while making 7-of-8 from the free throw line.
• Sam Sessoms added 12 points while also leading the Eagles with six rebounds, six assists and a pair of steals.
• Nendah Tarke finished with nine points, followed by Justin Steers with eight, Kam'Ron Blue with five, and both Greg Spurlock and Justin Winston with two points apiece.
• After holding NSU to just 35.7% shooting in the first half, the Spartans got hot in the second and shot 59.3% from the floor and finished with a 47.3% clip for the game.
• Sessoms' season was a historic one within the Coppin State record book. His 655 points was the 7^th-most in CSU single-season history, and the most since Reggie Isaac in 1990. His 161 assists matched all-time leader Larry Yarbray for the 6^th-most in school history. Sessoms made 239 field goals on the year, good for sixth in school-history, and the most since Larry Stewart in 1991.
• Joe Bryant finished with a game-high 25 points for the Spartans.

 
How it Happened

• Norfolk got out to a fast start, opening the game on a 7-1 run before Hood and Tarke hit back-to-back threes, tying the score at the 15:38 mark.
• The teams traded baskets, and after the Spartans took a 13-11 lead, Coppin went on an 11-2 run, starting with a three from n Blue. Steers followed with a floater in the lane before Hood and Tarke converted on layups off nifty passes from Sessoms.
• Coppin's 11-2 run spanned over six minutes and gave the Eagles their largest lead at 22-15 with 3:30 left in the half.
• NSU answered with four-straight points before Sessoms found Steers alone for a dunk with 1:40 remaining.
• Another four-straight points from the Spartans closed the half, cutting Coppin's lead to 24-23.
• Tarke buried a three to open the second half and Coppin extended its advantage to 32-27 following a fadeaway from Spurlock and a three in the corner from Hood.
• Norfolk State responded with a 12-3 run, retaking the lead with jut over 12 minutes left in regulation.
• Hood stopped the drought with a three, cutting the Spartans; lead to 39-38, but NSU began to pull away with a 12-3 run and it held a double-digit advantage nearly the rest of the way.