Senior point guard Jerrell Green led four Bears in double-figure scoring as Morgan State returned to the win column with a 63-52 road victory over the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats Monday night at the Ocean Center in Daytona, Florida.

The Bears responded well following Saturday’s overtime loss at Florida A&M, and improved their record to 16-9 overall and 10-2 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.

Green, a Baltimore product, finished with a career-high 17 points and connected on 11-of-14 free throws in 32 minutes. Marquise Kately, who played just 2 minutes against FAMU, had a productive night by adding 12 points, six boards, three assists and three steals.

Boubacar Coly, who was named earlier today as the MEAC’s Defensive Player of the Week for the seventh time, led the Bears on the glass with his 10th career- double-double performance with 14 boards and 10 points to go along with two blocked shots.

Jamar Smith, who entered the game fresh off a 34 point night at FAMU, finished the with 10 points, six boards and a game-high six assists.

John Holmes was a load in the paint for the Wildcats and finished with a team-high 17 points and five rebounds. Dewayne Pettus and Dominique Whatley chipped in 13 points apiece for the Wildcats.

Morgan State played almost flawless throughout most of the night. The Bears shot 20-of-26 (76.9%) from the free throw line, connected on 46.5 percent (20-43) of their shots and did a lot better job of protecting the basketball tonight by finishing with just 10 turnovers.

Kately scored the Bears’ first three baskets and Jermaine Bolden fed Coly for a dunk at the 8:49 mark to extend to a 17-10 lead.

Morgan State led 29-21 at halftime.

Bethune-Cookman (10-16, 4-8), who entered the contest with a total of eight players, attempted to slow the pace of the game by consuming the clock. But the Wildcats had a hard time trying to make up the difference in points.
The Wildcats cut the Bears lead to 47-40 when Whatley hit a jumper with 4:21 left.

Morgan State answered when Smith connected on a three-pointer to ignite a 9-3 charge. The Bears would go on to put the game away from the charity stripe by knocking down their last 11-of-12 free throws.

The Bears outscored Bethune-Cookman in the paint by a 28-16 margin and held a 31-21 advantage on the boards.