Jamar Smith scored 13 of his game-high 21 points in the second half to help Morgan State pull away with a 76-51 win on Friday night at Hill Field House before 603 fans.

The win improved the Bears’ record to 6-4 (1-0 MEAC) while Longwood fell to 3-11.

Morgan State entered the contest with a healthy backcourt for the first time since their game against UMBC on Nov. 29th. Senior Jerrell Green returned to his starting point guard position after missing three games with a high ankle sprain, while back-up guard Jermaine “Itchy” Bolden returned to the floor after missing two games with a shoulder injury.

Smith, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference’s (MEAC) leading scorer, had a solid shooting night for the Bears as he connected on 8-of-12 from the field and 3-of-5 from beyond the arc in 29 minutes. Marquise Kately added 14 points (7-13 FG) and four assists, while Boubacar Coly finished one point shy of a double-double with a game-high 10 rebounds and nine points.

Morgan State shot better than 50 percent from the field in both halves and finished the game by shooting 51.6 percent (28-54). Longwood shot 42.1 percent (16-38) for the game and struggled against the Bears aggressive defense in the second half as they were held to 4-of-16 shooting and finished the game with 22 turnovers.

Morgan State employed tough half court pressure and Kately matched Longwood’s scoring output with 10 points to help the Bears jump out to an early 19-10 lead at the 12:09 mark.

Ryan Bogan helped the Lancers gain confidence and rally back as he scored 11 of his team-high 16 points in the first half. Bogan scored on a layup to knot the score ballgame at 29 with 1:18 remaining in the half, but the Bears finished off the half strong and went into the locker room with a 37-31 lead.

The second half was dominated by the Bears who turned up their defensive pressure and took advantage Longwood’s poor shooting.

Morgan State jumped out on a 12-0 run and Kately alley-oop pass to Smith pushed the score to 48-31, and Green’s steal of Billy Robinson led to a Smith layup to increase the lead to 50-31 as the Bears never looked back.

Longwood’s Kirk Williams finished the game with 13 points and three assists and Lamar Barrett scored nine points with four rebounds.

Morgan State will face Niagara in the Cable Car Classic in San Francisco, Calif. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday, December 28th.