Morgan State had won its last five contests and was attempting to stay undefeated at home entering Monday night’s game against Delaware State.

With the home streak in jeopardy in the final minutes, the Bears responded by holding off the pesky Hornets for a 64-59 MEAC victory.

Morgan State improved to 7-0 within the confines of Hill Field House, but more importantly they continue to rack up W’s. The Bears currently sit atop the MEAC standings with a 13-8 overall record and are 8-1 in the conference.

Jamar Smith scored 20 points to lead the Bears, which held on as Delaware State chopped a 14-point deficit and tied the ballgame at 56-56 following a 3-pointer by Roy Bright with 3:32 left in the game.

The Bears made some clutch plays at each turn down the stretch.

Marquise Kately scored on a layup out of a timeout with 1:26 left and a jump shot by Reggie Holmes rimmed out and was collected by Smith for a layup to put the Bears up 60-56 with 32 seconds remaining.

Smith, one of the MEAC’s top scorers, poured in 16 points in the second half and notched his ninth 20-point performance of the season.

Delaware State (8-12, 5-3) pulled to within 62-59 from the free throw line with 8 seconds left, but the Hornets were forced to foul Smith with 7 seconds left. Smith calmly stepped up and nailed both free throws to put the game away.

Morgan State led 20-10 in the first half and held the Hornets to just two field goals in the first 10 minutes of the ballgame. Delaware State ended up shooting 6-for-19 for the half and was 0-for-4 from beyond the arc.

The Hornets scored most of their points from the free throw line and finished the half 10-of-13 from the stripe as they went into the intermission trailing 34-22.

Delaware State’s Bright scored 20 of his game-high 23 points in the second half to ignite the Hornets comeback. The Hornets raced out on a 14-0 run over a 7 minute span and a Frisco Sandidge layup knotted the ballgame at 52-52 with 4:28 remaining.

Sandidge chipped in 15 points and was the only other Hornet to score in double-figures.

Boubacar Coly, who was named earlier in the day as the MEAC Defensive Player of the Week for the sixth consecutive time, had another strong outing. Coly collected a game-high 12 rebounds and scored six points, including two important free throws in the final minutes.

Kately, who scored 17 points (7-14 FG), tossed in 11 in the last 7:52 of the first half, including an alley-oop dunk from Jerrell Green to push the Bears lead to 31-20. It was Kately’s highest offensive output since a 22-point performance against UMBC (Nov. 29).

Green added a game-high nine assists with two steals.

Morgan State held a commanding 39-24 advantage on the glass and scored 21 points in second chance shots.