Boxscore
BALTIMORE, Md. – Reggie Holmes helped the Morgan State Bears upstage Coppin State during “Senior Night” festivities in the final game to be played at the Coppin Center.
Holmes scored 23 points, hauled down 12 rebounds and hit key free throws in the final seconds in the Bears' 68-62 win on Thursday night.
It marked Holmes' second double-double performance of his career, and it was the eighth time this season he scored 20 or more points.
With the win over Coppin State, the Bears improved to 20-11 (13-3 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference). It marked the second consecutive season of reaching the 20-win plateau under 3rd year Bears head coach Todd Bozeman.
Coppin State trailed 41-33 at the break and opened the second half ice cold. The Eagles went scoreless through the first five minutes as the Bears built a 45-33 lead.
The Eagles (12-18, 9-7) cut into the lead when Morgan's standout point guard Jermaine Bolden picked up his third foul and went to the bench. Coppin State ended up outscoring the Bears 12-5 over the next 7 minutes as they capitalized on a number of Bear turnovers. Tywain McKee converted a three-point play when he was fouled on a layup to cut the Bears lead to 50-45 with 9:09 left to play.
McKee, who entered the contest as the MEAC's 2nd leading scorer (18.4 ppg), was held to 12 points (5-15 FG) and had five turnovers.
As a result, Bolden checked back into the game and the Bears seemed to calm down almost instantly as the heady point guard took over and ran the show.
Morgan State threatened to break the game open when Holmes knocked down a double-clutch off-glass, followed by a 3-pointer in front of the Bears' bench to push Morgan State's lead to 59-47 with 4:14 remaining.
Coppin State's Vince Goldsberry helped the Eagles regroup when scored four consecutive baskets to help carry the offensive load, and McKee's step-back jumper with 23 seconds left cut the Bears' lead to 63-60.
Goldsberry scored 12 of his team-high 14 points in the second half.
The Bears converted on 5-of-6 free throws through the remaining 18 seconds to successfully shut the door on the Eagles' comeback bid.
Morgan State outrebounded the Eagles 41-23 and scored 15 second-chance points.
For the second consecutive season the Morgan State Bears have clinched the MEAC men's basketball regular season title. The Bears will enter the 2009 MEAC Basketball tournament as the number one seed.
