PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – Coppin State's men's basketball team dug themselves a large hole to start the game and were unable to recover in an 87-59 loss to La Salle on Wednesday night at John E. Glaser Arena. The Eagles now stand at 0-2 on the season while the Explorers were playing in their season opener.
Torrin Andrews led Coppin with 11 points as 11 different players scored points for the Eagles.
Favour Aire added a career-high nine points, all of which came in the first half, followed by freshman
Daveyon Lydner with seven,
Baasil Saunders,
Jamari Piercy and
Hussain Williams with six apiece and
DeMariontay Hall with five.
Taj Thweatt led all players with seven rebounds off the bench to go with a team-high two assists and two steals. Piercy, Aire, Lydner and Hall also had a pair of assists for the Eagles.
Coppin started the game shooting 1-of-15 from the field as La Salle built a 20-point lead.
Khali Horton stopped the drought with a three at the 7:24 mark of the first half, but the hosts kept up the momentum and led by as many as 47-18 with 1:28 left in the period.
Aire hit a jumper with just over a minute remaining and beat the buzzer with a three to send Coppin into the locker room trailing, 47-23.
The Eagles shot 42.9% from the floor compared to 41.7% for La Salle in the second half but were unable to sustain a run. Following Coppin's slow start from the floor, the Eagles shot 45.2% from the field over the final 27-plus minutes and finished the game at 35.1% compared to the Explorers' 49.1%.
La Salle had four players score in double figures, led by Ashton Walker with 18 points.
CSU returns to action on Sunday, November 9 at James Madison for a 1 pm tipoff on ESPN+.
