Men's Basketball

MEAC Basketball Tournament: Coppin State Completes Comeback Against Morgan State

Updated Bracket

NORFOLK, Va., March 12, 2019 – No. 7 Coppin State erased a 14-point deficit and moved on to the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Basketball Tournament quarterfinals after downing rival No. 10 Morgan State inside the Norfolk Scope Arena 81-71 Tuesday evening.
 
A pair of free throws from Morgan State’s Sherwyn Devonish-Prince Jr. gave the Bears their largest advantage, 40-26, but Coppin State closed the half on a 7-1 spurt and cut the margin to single digits, 41-33.

"Morgan [State] punched us in the mouth early," Coppin State head coach Juan Dixon said. "But we were able to cut the double-digit lead at halftime. We played solid defense in the second half and we were able to put up good numbers offensively."
 
Coppin State (8-24) opened the half on an 11-4 run, capped off by a one-handed put back jam from Justin Steers, and sliced the deficit down to one, 45-44.
 
With more than five minutes remaining, Coppin State’s Chad Andrews-Fulton connected on two free throws and put the Eagles ahead, 64-63. From that point on, Coppin State finished the game on a 17-8 run.
 
Coppin shot 53-percent (24-for-45) from the field, including 60-percent (15-for-25) after halftime.
 
Five Eagles reached double-figures, led by Dejuan Clayton with a game-high 23 points. Andrews-Fulton and Lamar Morgan ended the night with 12 points and 11 points, respectively.
 
Coppin State scored 32 points off the bench, led by Steers and Kent Auslander combining for 23 points in the win.
 
“I want to congratulate Coppin [State],” Morgan State head coach Todd Bozeman said. “[I] give them credit [because] they found a way to win. They had 21 turnovers and we took 74 shots. We had our chances.”
 
Morgan State (9-21) scored 27 points on 21 turnovers. Devonish-Prince led the Bears with a team-high 15 points in the loss.

"That's one of the tougher teams in the MEAC," Dixon said. It's hard to beat a team three times in a season.

On Wednesday, Coppin State meets No. 2 seed North Carolina A&T State in the MEAC Tournament quarterfinals. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m.