Senior Jamar Smith shows off his hops as Maryland's Greivis Vasques attempts to avoid being "postered".
Boxscore
Bear Shots
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Eric Hayes led five Terps in double-figure scoring as Maryland pulled away in the second half against Morgan State , 89-65, at the Comcast Center before 17,950 fans.
The loss dropped the Bears’ record to 4-4 (1-0 MEAC) while Maryland improved to 6-3.
Morgan State entered the contest shorthanded in the backcourt as a result of injuries, as starting point guard Jerrell Green (ankle sprain) and Jermaine Bolden (shoulder) watched the game from the Bears’ bench. As a result, junior forward Marquise Kately took over the point guard position.
Kately played the entire game and finished with just three turnovers, however his offensive production struggled as he completed the game shooting 2-for-15 from the field and scored a season-low with five points.
Sophomore guard Reggie Holmes led the Bears with a game-high 20 points with six rebounds and three steals, while Jamar Smith added 16 points including seven boards and four assists. Boubacar Coly finished just shy of a double-double with nine points and eight rebounds.
Maryland employed tough full court pressure and got baskets by James Gist to help the Terps jump out to an early 8-0 lead. Gist finished the game with 18 points, eight rebounds and two blocks.
The Bears seemed to gain confidence as the game continued and rallied.
Smith scored the Bears’ first basket to help spark a 13-5 run over the next six minutes as the Bears took advantage of careless Terps turnovers and poor shooting. An Adrian Bowie turnover led to a powerful dunk by Smith over Greivis Vasquez to knot the ballgame at 13 with 10:11 remaining in the half.
Morgan State would go on to take a 27-25 lead at the 3:39 mark after an alley-oop dunk by Smith to Kately, followed by a layup by Gene Johnson as Terps fans grew restless.
Maryland fired back with an 11-4 run.
In the final seconds of the half Vasquez drove the lane and had his shot blocked twice. Maryland head coach Gary Williams felt Vasquez was fouled on the play and threw his jacket to center court before storming off the court in disgust. The Terps’ bench was assessed a technical foul as they went into the locker room with a 36-29 halftime lead.
The second half was dominated by the Terps who continued to put pressure on Morgan State’s tiring squad.
Two three-pointers by Hayes pushed the score to 44-33, and Vasquez nailed another three-pointer to increase the lead to 47-35 as the Terps never looked back.
Vasquez finished the game with 17 points and 11 assists and Bambale Osby provided energy in the paint with nine rebounds and 16 points (6-8 FG).
Morgan State had its worst shooting night of the season as they were held to 24-for-73 shooting (32.9%), while Maryland shot 50.8 percent (32-63) from the field and 60 percent from three-point territory (9-15).
Morgan State will host LaSalle at Hill Field House on Saturday, December 8th. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m.
