The Mount St. Mary Mountaineers outlasted the Eagles of Coppin State, 69-60, to win the opening round game of the 2008 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament in Dayton, Ohio.
The Eagles went scoreless for over five minutes in the second half and the Mountaineers turned a two-point lead into a nine-point advantage.
Tywain McKee, who led the Eagles with 15 points, connected on a short jumper with 6:55 to play in the game which trimmed the Mount St. Mary's lead to 57-55.
When Antwan Harrison finally broke the scoring drought on a running one-hander at the 1:20 mark of the second period the Eagles trailed 64-57.
Mount St. Mary's, which won its first NCAA Tournament game in three appearances, also used a big advantage from the free throw line to earn the win. The Mount outscored the Eagles 26-6 from the charity stripe and had 32 attempts to Coppin State's 13.
The Eagles (16-21) saw their remarkable season come to a close despite out-shooting Mount St. Mary's.
Four Coppin State seniors made their final appearances in a Coppin State uniform.
Antwan Harrison scored 14 points and grabbed three rebounds, Robert Pressey had nine points and 10 rebounds, Mike Miller scored 11 points and Julian Conyers added eight points and two rebounds.
The Eagles were anything but cold in the first half as they shot 53.3 percent from the floor and held a 34-33 lead.
Pressey started the game with back-to-back dunks and Miller added a jumper and the Eagles raced out to a 6-0 lead.
The lead swelled to 15-7 on a three-pointer from Miller with 14:32 to play in the opening half.
The Mount trimmed the lead to 17-14 with a 7-2 run, but Harrison and Conyers hit back-to-back baskets and the Eagles increased the lead to 21-14 with 9:15 left in the period.
After Jeremy Goode, who led the Mount with 21 points, drilled a three-pointer to cut the lead to 21-18 the Eagles answered with a 8-2 run.
Harrison started the run with consecutive baskets and Pressey and Duncan added slam dunks to finish the run, which gave the Eagles a 29-20 lead with 5:13 to play in the period.
Mount St. Mary's closed the half on a 13-5 run to cut the lead to 34-33 at the break.
The Mountaineers took their first lead of the game when Will Holland connected on a three-pointer at the 19:46 mark of the second period.
The Mount stretched the lead to five points before the Eagles rallied.
McKee scored a layup and then hit a three-pointer that regained the lead for Coppin State, 47-44, with 13:26 remaining.
Mount St. Mary's responded with a 9-0 run to regain the lead for good.
A three-pointer by Conyers and five points from McKee helped the Eagles claw to within two points, but then CSU had its cold spell which proved to be its downfall.