Bears Rally Comes Up Short in 73-71 Setback to Norfolk State

Box Score Boxscore

NORFOLK, Va. -- Morgan State entered tonight's contest attempting to finish its Tidewater swing with a perfect 2-0 record, but tonight they came up short.

Morgan State mounted a furious second-half late rally, but it came up just short in a 73-71 setback to Norfolk State on Monday night at Echols Hall in Norfolk, Va. The Bears fell to 5-10 overall and 2-2 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, while the Spartans won for the fifth-straight game to improve to 11-10 and a 6-0 mark in league play.

Pendarvis Williams poured in 15 of his game-high 20 points in the second half to help keep the Spartans perfect with a narrow victory over Morgan State.

NSU's 7-foot center Brandon Goode finished with 18 points and three blocks.

Morgan State was undone by turnovers. The Spartans scored 26 points off the Bears season-high 29 turnovers on the night.

Justin Black led three Bears in double-figures with 16 points on 6 of 11 shooting. Anthony Hubbard posted his third double-double of the season with 12 points and 12 rebounds, while DeWayne Jackson chipped in 11 points.

NSU quickly outscored the Bears 8-2 in the opening minutes of the second half and Goode's third dunk of the night gave the Spartans a a 47-33 lead with 16:26 remaining.

The Bears mounted a furious 18-4 run during a 7-minute stretch to overcome a 14-point deficit. A 3-pointer by Blake Bozeman tied the game at 55-55 with 8:14 left to go, and a basket by Shaquille Dunkin gave the Bears its first lead since the opening basket of the night.

The Spartans took a 59-58 at the 3:50 mark and held a 64-58 advantage following a 3-point play by Goode and a turnaround jumper by Johnson. But the Bears would not go away.

With 19.6 seconds remaining in the game, Blake Bozeman buried a 3-pointer to trim the lead to 71-69.

A putback basket by Justin Black cut the lead to 72-71 with 6 seconds to go. NSU's Malcom Hawkins was fouled with .9 seconds on the clock and ended up splitting a pair of free throws. On the ensuing play the Bears turned the ball over on a long inbounds pass securing the win for the Spartans.

Morgan State's Shaquille Duncan (9 pts) opened the scoring with a 3-point play, but the Spartans' Rob Johnson scored 6 points during a 13-2 run. His basket with 14:57 gave his team an early 13-5 lead.

Johnson scored 17 points on 8 of 14 shooting.

DeWayne Jackson entered the ballgame at 14:52 and scored his first bucket on a tip-in. Back to back baskets by Ian Chiles ignited an 8-3 run as the Bears trimmed the lead to 24-21.

A jumper by Williams gave the Spartans its largest lead of the half up 38-26. The Bears went into the break trailing 40-31 at halftime.

The Bears held a commanding 43-26 advantage on the boards and shot 48 percent from the field, while the Spartans shot 43 percent, including 60 percent shooting in the first half.

Bear Notes

Morgan State's record dropped to 2-3 in games decided by 1-4 points so far this season.

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