BALTIMORE, Md. -- Morgan State will complete the regular season when they play the Coppin State Eagles on Thursday night in the Coppin Center. Tip-off for the game is slated for 7:30 p.m. The Bears (19-11, 12-3) will matchup with the Eagles for the 66th meeting between the teams in men's basketball.
The Bears defeated Delaware State 60-54 on Saturday, Feb. 28th during Morgan State's “Senior Night” at Hill Field House. Reggie Holmes paced the Bears with 15 points and Jermaine Bolden posted 12 points with five rebounds and five assists.
Coppin State (12-17, 9-6) is coming off a 79-57 blowout victory against Md.-Eastern Shore at the Coppin Center on Saturday night. Freshman Michael Harper posted a game-high 22 points to lead five players in double figures. The Eagles have won five of their last six contests since Feb. 9, 2009.
Coppin State leads the all-time series between the two teams 49-16, but MSU has won four of the last six times against the Eagles.
Bears Clinch 2nd Straight Regular Season Title
For the second consecutive season the Morgan State Bears have clinched the MEAC men's basketball regular season title. The Bears, who currently boast a 12-3 conference mark and 19-11 over record, will enter the 2009 MEAC Basketball tournament as the number one seed.
20 Wins Again???
With a win over Coppin State on Thursday, Morgan State will reach the 20-win plateau. It would mark the 2nd consecutive season under Bears head coach Todd Bozeman, and it would mark the fifth time in the history of the MSU program has reached the 20-win mark.
Itching For The Record
Jermaine “Itchy” Bolden, former Douglass H.S. standout, leads the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference in assists averaging 4.9 per game and in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.9). The 5-9 point guard enters the Coppin State game this Thursday night with 146 assists. He needs to post just one more assist to capture the school's single-season assist record currently held by Lorenzo Hutchinson (146 - 1998). The Baltimore product currently ranks 6th among Morgan State's career assist leaders with 228 assists in two seasons.
Notes on Coppin State
> Coppin State enters Thursday's contest as one of the MEAC's hottest teams having won five of its last six contests...The Eagles' last loss was an 81-74 to the Howard Bison at Burr Gymnasium on Feb. 23rd.
> Coppin State ranks No. 1 in the MEAC in 3-point percentage by shooting 35.3 percent while limiting opponents to shooting 33.3 percent from beyond the arc...The Hawks out-rebounded Coppin State by a 41-29 margin.
> Tywain McKee, the 2008-09 MEAC Preseason Player of the Year, leads the Eagles in scoring by averaging 18.4 points per game thru 29 games...He also ranks No. 2 in free throw percentage (.799), No. 3 in assists (4.1 pg) and No. 10 in rebounding (5.7).
MEAC Tournament
The MEAC Basketball Tournament is slated for March 10-14 at the LJVM Coliseum in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. For more information, log on to www.MEAChoops.com
