Morgan State University Athletics

Box Score

BALTIMORE, Md. -- The key word Morgan State head coach Todd Bozeman uttered in his post-game press conference was energy. Bozeman's Bears started the game pretty well. But they got sluggish later on and never really got into it the rest of the way at Hill Field House.
 
Norfolk State limited Morgan State to just 33% (19-57) shooting from the field, including 2 for 22 (9%) from three-point range, as the Spartans defeated the Bears 64-53 tonight at Hill Field House.
 
"We weren't ready to play today," said Bozeman. "We didn't have the energy. So we didn't have any answers for (Norfolk State) because we didn't have the energy. So that's a lesson learned and they were able to get the shots that they wanted to," said Bozeman. "So whether we went man or zone, we didn't have the energy to do a good enough job to do a good enough job defending them."
 
Morgan State (8-13, 6-3 MEAC) scored seven of the first nine points of the game. Justin Black, who led the Bears with 16 points, opened the game with one of his two three-pointers in the game. Then Pendarvis Williams, who led the Spartans with 16 points, converted a jumper. Then Ian Chiles made a short jumper followed by a lay-up from Anthony Hubbard to give the Bears a 7-2 lead with 17:27 left in the first half.
 
Morgan State kept their five-point advantage, the last being at 11-6 on a Cedric Blossom lay-up with 13:37 left. However, Norfolk State (13-10, 7-2 MEAC) scored the next 11 points to take the lead for good.
 
The run started with an Anell Alexis lay-up and ended on a jumper from Williams to give the Spartans a 17-11 advantage with 8:52 remaining. During that run, the Bears underwent a dry spell, as the Bears did not convert a basket in nearly 11 minutes. MSU converted just six free throws during that span and got back on the board again on a lay-up from Chiles with 2:39 left to draw within 25-19.  Chiles nearly recorded a triple double with 15 points, 10 rebounds and nine blocked shots on the evening.
 
"The last two games, we've been winning really with our defensive intensity," said Norfolk State interim head coach Robert Jones. "We've been doing a lot with our defense. It's championship time now. You have to play defense."
 
Norfolk State led at halftime 28-23.
 
MSU opened the second half with a small run, scoring five of the first seven points. After a Brandon Goode lay-up, Chiles converted one of two free throws, then he dunked a ball. Then Black stole the ball from Riley Maye and went coast to coast to convert a lay-up to draw the Bears within 30-28 with 17:46 remaining in the game.
 
Norfolk State then put the game away by going on a 21-8 run in the next eight minutes. The run started on a three from Williams and ended on a Goode lay-up to give the Spartans a 51-36 lead with 9:22 left in the game.
 
The Bears would creep back to within eight points late in the game, but that's as close as they would get. Morgan State struggled from long range by making only two of their 22 three-point attempts. Bozeman said, "The threes probably hurt us more than anything. Not that I wouldn't want to shoot it better from the field, but 2-for-22, we just have to find a way to generate offense when we're not shooting the ball well because we sure didn't shoot the ball well today."
 
Next for the Bears is a road trip across town to the Physical Education Complex to take on the rival Coppin State Eagles on Monday night at 7:30 pm. Bozeman mentioned the key to this game, "We just got to have energy. That's the first thing I'm going to focus on. Make sure we got energy."