ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Coppin State's men's basketball team dropped its opening game of the Showdown in St. Pete MTE, falling 82-59 to Central Michigan on Friday afternoon at McArthur Center on the campus of Eckerd College. The Eagles fell to 0-5 on the season while the Chippewas improved to 2-2.
DeMariontay Hall led three CSU players in double figures with 13 points in just 18 minutes, hitting 4-of-7 from the floor and all five of his free throws to go with four rebounds and a block.
Khali Horton hit three first half 3-pointers and finished with 11 points and four boards off the bench while
Tyler Koenig added ten points and a team-high seven rebounds.
JUCO transfers
Jamari Piercy and
Baasil Saunders chipped in with nine and six points, respectively, followed by
Camaren Sparrow with five points and
Hassan Perkins with four. Perkins dished out a game-high five assists while Sparrow blocked a pair of shots.
Central Michigan, who fell to South Alabama in yesterday's MTE opener, got 20 points and 11 rebounds from Nathan Claerbaut, and outshot Coppin, 47.8% to 33.9%. The Chippewas also held a 45-34 advantage on the glass.
Koenig and Hall did the scoring for Coppin early in the game to keep the game tied, before the Chippewas went on a 10-0 run. Sparrow buried a three to pull CSU to within six before another long CMU run built the lead to as many as 33-17 in the first half.
Coppin cut the deficit to as little as 35-29 with a 12-2 run, highlighted by a trio of threes from Horton along with a layup by Koenig at the 2:05 mark. CMU scored the final six points of the half to lead 41-29 at the break and led by as many as 25 in the second half.
CSU will face South Alabama in the final game of the Showdown in St. Pete at 11 am on Saturday, November 15. Fans can watch the action live on YouTube.
