BALTIMORE, Md. (February 6, 2021) – Senior forward Lagio Grantsaan scored a game-high 21 points to help lift the Bears past Delaware State 74-69 on Saturday at Hill Field House.
Morgan State improves to 11-4 overall and sit atop the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Northern Division with a 6-2 record. The Bears improved its all-time record against Delaware State to 61-42, and have not suffered a loss to the Hornets since March 1, 2018.
The Bears defeated Delaware State 99-83 in an earlier meeting on Jan. 24 at Hill Field House.
Grantsaan shot 70 percent (7-10) from the field and finished 5-for-7 from the free throw line for MSU, which earned its fifth consecutive victory.
Malik Miller recorded his sixth double-double performance of the season as he finished with 19 points, and a season-high 17 rebounds with three steals and two blocks. Troy Baxter added 17 points, four boards and two blocks.
The Bears stormed to a 12-2 lead in the first four minutes of the contest and led by 18 points when De'Torrion Ware scored on a breakaway dunk to make the score 23-5 with 13:23 left in the half. The Hornets regrouped behind a 9-2 run to pull within 25-14.
Trevor Moore scored on a jumper to give the Bears a 35-24 lead but the Hornets continued to make a strong push. MSU went without a basket in the final seven minutes while DSU closed out the half on an 8-2 run and went into the break trailing the Bears 37-32.
DSU tied the game at 39-39 following a 3-pointer by John Stansbury with 17:35 remaining, but Malik Miller outscored the Hornets 11-2 over a 2-minute stretch. Peter Sorber fed Miller on a backdoor cut for a dunk to give the Bears a 50-41 lead with 15:31 left to go.
The Hornets were able to keep the pressure on and mounted a 10-2 run to cut the Bears lead to 52-51 (10:11). Ameer Bennett completed a 3-point play after his was fouled on a dunk by Sherwyn Devonish to give the Hornets a 57-56 lead.
The Bears trailed 69-68 after a layup by Myles Carter with 2:40 to go before Grantsaan scored on back-to-back layups to put his team ahead 72-69 with 29 seconds left.
DSU guard Pinky Wiley was forced into a critical turnover with 9 seconds to go, and Devonish salted the game away with a pair of free throws to give the Bears a 74-69 win.
John Stansbury scored 17 points to lead the Hornets (1-12, 0-7). Dominik Fragala had 16 points off the bench and Zack Kent added 13 points and two blocks.
MSU shot 40% (10-25) from 3-point territory while DSU connected at an 18.8% clip. Both teams shot 41% from the field.