Junior forward Ron Timus finished with a game-high 19 points with 6 rebounds and 2 steals.
Boxscore
BALTIMORE, Md. – Ron Timus played with a sense of urgency as he recorded his best game of the season for the Bears.
Timus scored 19 points, 12 in the second half, to help lead Morgan State past Maine 71-63 on Saturday night in Hill Field House.
The Bears struggled in the opening minutes of the contest as they missed shots and committed careless turnovers. Senior 6-9 forward David Dubois helped Maine open up a commanding 18-5 lead with 12:32 remaining in the first half.
It looked as though the Black Bears were set to cruise to a victory, however Morgan was far from being down-and-out.
Morgan State (3-6, 1-1) mounted a 30-9 run led by the sizzling shooting of Karanvir Aujla. Aujla nailed three 3-pointers during the run and finished the game 4-for-4 from beyond the arc with a career-high 12 points.
MSU held a 35-27 lead at the break.
Morgan led throughout the early part of the second half and a Timus layup pushed the lead to 59-49 at the 7:20 mark.
Maine (4-3, 1-0) engineered an 11-2 run of its own over the next 4 minutes led by Kevin Reed. Reed scored 8 points during the run and knocked in a three-pointer to help tie the ballgame at 61 apiece with 2:14 left in the game.
Down the stretch two big steals by Timothy Mathis and crucial free throws by Chris Grant and Timus helped preserve Morgan’s first non-conference win of the season.
Morgan State finished with its best free throw shooting performance in recent years, as they knocked down 14-of-16 (87.5%) from the stripe. They also shot 42% from the field and held their own on the boards despite facing a much taller team.
Aaron Andrews and Mathis finished with 8 points apiece, while Sam Brand was held to 7 points, but led the team on the glass with 6 rebounds.
Maine finished with four players in double-figures. Ernest Turners paced the Black Bears with 16 points, while Dubois and Reed scored 14 each, and Chris Markwood chipped in 10.
MSU’s next contest will be when they travel to non-conference opponent Virginia Tech on Monday, December 27.
