BALTIMORE – Malik Battle scored a career-high 27 points as Coppin State's men's basketball team took league-leading Norfolk State down to the wire in a 68-66 loss on Saturday afternoon at PEC Arena. The Eagles fell to 2-22 and 1-9 in the MEAC while the Spartans improved to 18-9 on the year and 8-2 in conference play.
A senior from Atlanta, Ga., Battle led all scorers by hitting 6-of-12 from the field, all of which were 3-pointers, while going a perfect 9-of-9 from the line. Battle added four rebounds and an assist as well.
Ryan Archey also finished in double figures with 11 points on 9-of-10 free throws to go with four rebounds and five assists.
Greg Spurlock added eight points , followed by
Isaiah Gross with six,
Camaren Sparrow with five,
Darryon Prescott with four and
Khali Horton with three.
Justin Winston grabbed a team-high nine rebounds and blocked two shots.
Norfolk State outshot Coppin, 45.1% to 32.7% but the Eagles hit 11 3-pointers and 23-of-27 free throws while tallying 11 second-chance points and 15 points off turnovers. The Eagles outrebounded NSU, 37-30.
How it Happened
- Norfolk quickly got out to a double-digit lead, starting the game on a 14-4 run over the first five minutes and extended its advantage to as many as 23-7 at the 9:00 minute mark.
- Spurlock answered with a three and Battle nailed two more in a 50 second stretch to pull Coppin to within, 28-24 with 1:19 remaining in the half.
- A pair of Spartans free throws in the closing seconds gave them a six-point lead going into the break and they started the second half on another run to go back up 42-30 with 16:46 remaining.
- An 18-5 CSU run, once again led by Battle with seven points, tied the score at 58 as Battle buried a triple with 3:19 left.
- Norfolk State came right back with a bucket, but Battle hit all three free throws as he was fouled going up for another three.
- Battle's freebies gave the Eagles a 61-60 lead with 2:15 remaining, and Archey added a layup following an NSU turnover to give CSU the 63-60 advantage at the 1:49 mark.
- The Spartans tied it up at 63 with 1:41 to go before another transition three by Battle with 52 seconds left.
- Tyrese Jenkins answered the call for Norfolk with a game-tying three just 16 seconds later, and following a CSU miss, the Green & Gold hit two free throws with seven ticks to go.
- Coppin was unable to get a shot off after calling a timeout as Norfolk escaped West Baltimore with a win.
Up Next: Coppin heads to Howard for a 7:30 pm MEAC tipoff on Monday, February 26 at Burr Gymnasium.
