Bears Register First Win By Dropping UMBC, 73-60
Kevin Thompson posted a game-high 17 points with 12 rebounds and four blocks.

Bears Register First Win By Dropping UMBC, 73-60

12/14/2011 10:38:00 PM

Boxscore

Bear Shots

BALTIMORE, Md. -- The Morgan State men's basketball team snapped a season-opening seven game losing streak with a late first half run that led to a 73-60 victory at University of Maryland Baltimore County on Wednesday night.
 
Senior forward Kevin Thompson led the Bears by posting his fourth double-double of the season with 17 points and 12 rebounds, to go along with a game-high four blocked shots. Redshirt-sophomore center Ian Chiles added 14 points, while Blake Bozeman scored 13 and Larry Bastfield chipped in 11.
 
Brian Neller led UMBC with 16 points, while Chandler Thomas and Chase Plummer scored 11 each.

The Bears (1-7) played sluggish in the opening minutes of the game as the  undersized Retrievers traded leads with the Bears six times and led 16-14 when Chandler Thomas hit a layup with 8:00 to play in the first half. It ended up being the Retrievers last lead of the game.

Junior forward DeWayne Jackson entered the contest for the first time all night and proceeded to nail three consecutive 3-pointers to help ignite an 18-3 run by the Bears which gave the Bears a 33-19 lead with 2:23 left.  
 
UMBC (1-8) trimmed the margin to 35-24 at the half and scored eight of the first 11 points of the second half to close within 38-32 just 2:15 into the frame. But the Retrievers did not score in their next six opportunities, missing four shots and committing two turnovers, and Morgan's Blake Bozeman hit a pair of 3-point field goals to extend the lead to 44-32 with 15:02 to play.
 
UMBC closed the gap to eight points on two occasions in the final ten minutes, the final time when Neller hit a jumper to cut the deficit to 59-51 with 5:26 remaining. But Morgan's Larry Bastfield buried a three on the next possession and UMBC could not rally down the stretch.
 
The Bears had its finest shooting performance of the season as they shot 25 of 46 (54.3 percent) from the field and shot 47 percent (8-17) from beyond the arc.
 
UMBC had a tough time against MSU's pressure defense, hitting only 20 of 73 from the floor (31.5 percent) and went 4 of 21 from 3-point territory.

NEXT UP: MSU will host Loyola Marymount on Wednesday next week. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at Hill Field House.

 



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