Men's Basketball CSU Athletic Communications

CSU Wins Home Opener Behind Season-High 28 Points from Sam Sessoms

BALTIMORE – Sam Sessoms scored a season-high 28 points to go with five rebounds and five assists to lead the Coppin State men's basketball team to a thrilling, 83-78 victory over Mount St. Mary's in its home opener on Friday night at PEC Arena.  The Eagles improve to 1-2 on the season while the Mountaineers fall to 0-2.
 
Inside the Numbers
  • Sessoms made 9-of-22 shots from the floor with three 3-pointers while sinking 7-of-9 from the line to lead all scorers. Sessoms scored 21 of his points in the second half .
  • It was the 16th time in his career that Sessoms scored at least 25 points in a game and he now has 1,775 career points.
  • Four other Eagles finished in double figures as Nendah Tarke stuffed the stat sheet with 15 points, four rebounds, three assists, three steals and three blocks.
  • Justin Steers notched his second-straight double-double with 14 points and ten rebounds while Justin Winston and Kam'Ron Blue added 13 and ten points, respectively.  Winston also grabbed eight rebounds.
  • Coppin outshot The Mount, 50.8% to 40.3%, but the Mountaineers stayed in it with 21 offensive rebounds, leading to 16 second-chance points. 
  • The Eagles got out in transition frequently, converting for 17 fastbreak points.
  • Mount St. Mary's got 23 points from Jalen Benjamin.
How it Happened
  • Both teams were tight on the scoreboard throughout with neither team reaching a double-digit lead.
  • The first half featured five ties and five lead changes with Coppin taking a 34-32 lead at the half.
  • Coppin led by as many as 55-48 as Sessoms recovered his own miss and drove back inside for an old-fashioned three-point play with 11:54 to play.
  • Mount St. Mary's then went off on a 12-1 run to take its largest lead of the half at 60-56 at the 7:51 mark.
  • Sessoms responded with a three before finding Winston inside for an easy layup to put the Eagles back on top momentarily.
  • After a Mountaineers bucket, Sessoms put CSU back in front with a pair of free throws before finding Steers for a dunk, increasing Coppin's advantage to 68-63.
  • The visitors did not go away, tying the score at 71-71 with 2:41 remaining but Steers and Winston converted on layups to up the lead back to four.
  • Sessoms converted on 3-of-4 free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.
 
Up Next: Coppin is back at home on Monday, November 14 when it hosts Navy at 7 pm.