Morgan State University Athletics

Boxscore

Bear Shots

BALTIMORE, Md. – Four Bears scored in double figures and Morgan State hit 47.4 percent from the field to pull away from Loyola Marymount, 69-45 at Hill Field House. 
 
Junior swingman DeWayne Jackson led MSU with a game-high 14 points and eight rebounds, while Larry Bastfield finished with 13 points, and Kevin Thompson and Ameer Ali posted 12 and 10 points respectively. 
 
LMU (6-6) freshman forward C.J. Blackwell posted 10 points and six rebounds off the bench and was the only Lion to score in double digits. Anthony Ireland dished out a game-high 11 assists to go along with eight boards and six points.
 
Ayodeji Egbeyemi hit a jumper to pull the Lions to within 20-17 with 6 minutes left in the first half, but the Bears responded with a 10-2 run. Two back-to-back baskets in the paint by Thompson and a three-pointer at the buzzer by Bastfield gave the Bears a 33-22 lead at the intermission.
 
Neither team took the floor with a lot of energy following the break. In fact, both coaches combined to use three timeouts in less than the first three minutes of the second half.
 
LMU trimmed the margin to 36-26 when Ireland dished to Laron Armstead for a layup with 16:38 left. It turned out to be as close as the Lions would get tonight. The Bears turned up the defensive pressure and moved the ball around for easy baskets. Shaquille Duncan's layup with 6:37 remaining extended the lead to 55-37 as the Bears cruised to its second win in a row.
 
Morgan State shot a blistering 54.2 percent (13-24) in the second half and converted 6 of 19 three-pointers, while LMU misfired on 18 of 51 attempts (35.3 percent) and shot 15 percent (3-19) from behind the arc against the Bears zone defense.
 
“I'm happy about getting the win,” said MSU coach Todd Bozeman. “We just want to keep improving and get ready for the next game.”
 
"The next game (St. Joseph's) will be tough, so we're going to take a couple days off and be ready to practice on Christmas night.  This win gave some of the non-starters a chance to play.”
 
The Bears have won both meetings in the series against LMU and improve to 2-1 against West Coast Conference teams.

MSU will face Saint Joseph's on Wednesday, December 28 in Philadelphia (Pa.). Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.

Bear Bits
The Bears record at Hill Field House improved to 45-9 under head coach Todd Bozeman.

The win marked the Bears' first home victory since February 23, 2011 when they defeated Delaware State 42-39.

Senior forward Ameer Ali went over 400 rebounds in his career... he currently has 403.