Kevin Thompson collected his 11th double-double of the season (19 pts, 10 rebs)
Boxscore
NORFOLK, Va. – Norfolk State's Kyle O'Quinn was going to work in the post while Morgan State had problems putting the ball in the basket and slowing down the Spartans' big-man.
O'Quinn scored 15 of his game-high 23 points in the first half and was too much tonight for the Bears to overcome in a 69-63 Norfolk State victory that stopped Morgan State's 5-game winning streak.
O'Quinn, a frontrunner for MEAC Player of the Year, also led the Spartans on the boards with a game-high 18 rebounds, to go along with four assists and three blocked shots.
“I thought we missed a lot of shots in the first half and we missed a lot of free throws,” said Morgan State coach Todd Bozeman. “They outrebounded us (36-34) and [Kyle] O'Quinn had a big night. He gave us problems again. He gave us problems up at our place.”
The loss dropped Morgan State to 15-11 overall and 10-4 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. The Bears also drop the regular season series to the Spartans, as a result of losing their previous matchup 76-74 on January 29th in Baltimore.
“I thought we were getting into a rhythm, but it didn't translate. I thought we had an opportunity all the way until it got to single digits, but you're not going to win a lot of games when you shoot 59 percent from the free throw line.”
Kevin Thompson, the reigning MEAC Defensive Player of the Year, did his best to carry the Bears. He posted his 11th double-double of the season by scoring 19 points (9-17 FG) and grabbing 10 rebounds.
The Bears used a furious 14-1 run during a 6-minute stretch and DeWayne Jackson converted a conventional 3-point play to give the Bears a 44-42 lead with 9:09 left to go.
O'Quinn scored seven points in just over a minute to put the Spartans up 66-59 with 3:58 remaining. It was a lead the Spartans wouldn't give away.
Rob Hampton scored 19 points for the Spartans, who shot 52.8 percent (28-53) for the game. Pendarvis Williams and Chris McEachin chipped in 15 and 11 points respectively.
Aric Brooks added 12 points for the Bears, while Jackson, who had just 2 points at halftime, finished the game with 10.
Norfolk State scored 12 points off of Morgan State turnovers, and outscored the Bears 14-4 in fastbreak points. The Spartans also scored 50 of its 69 points inside of the paint, including five dunks.
Norfolk State came in desperate for a win after losing five of its last six, including their last two ballgames.
Morgan State trailed 18-9 at the 8:00 mark following a three-point play by Aleek Pauline. After the Bears cut the lead to five (20-15) when DeWayne Jackson's shot was goaltended (4:27), but the Spartans closed the half with an 11-4 run and went into the intermission with a 31-21 advantage.
The Bears missed a number of point-blank baskets in the first half, and outside of Kevin Thompson's play (6 of 11), the rest of the Bears only connected on 3-of-17 shots.
The Bears shot 39.2 percent from the field, and were just 13-of-22 from the free throw line.
“Our fate was in our own hands, and now we have to win out and Bethune-Cookman (18-11, 12-3 MEAC) would have to lose for us to have a chance to win the regular season.”
