NORFOLK, Va. – - It was interesting early for the Bears until the second half started. That's when the No. 6 seed Hampton Pirates got hot with their shooting and No. 11 seed Morgan State just couldn't keep up in their 91-71 loss in the opening round of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament at the Scope Arena.
 
Hampton, who swept the Bears in their regular season, advance to the quarterfinals to play No. 3 seed Maryland Eastern Shore on Thursday, March 12.

"We wanted to win the game," said MSU head coach Todd Bozeman. "It was a four point game, we made some bad mistakes there. We had too many turnovers that came at a bad time. That pretty much epitomized the season."
 
It was a close encounter in the first half with Morgan State taking the lead three times. The first time took place when the Bears went on a 7-0 run. Down 20-14 with 11:38 left, Cedric Blossom and Torin Childs-Harris nailed short jumpers. Then Blake Bozeman hit one of two from the free throw line. Next, with 6:06 left, Childs-Harris was fouled on a drive by Charle Wilson-Fisher and hit two free throws to give the Bears their first lead of the game at 21-20.
 
Morgan State (7-24) took their second lead at 27-26 on a pair of free throws by Andrew Hampton with 3:43 left. After Emmanuel Okoroba nailed two free throws to put the Pirates back on top, Blossom answered back by nailing another jumper to put MSU back ahead 29-28 with 3:10 left.
 
Hampton (13-17) went back on top for good when Brian Darden nailed a three-pointer with 2:06 left. Darden's jumper started a 9-3 run to finish the first half, which put Hampton in front 37-32 at halftime.
 
Childs-Harris opened up the second half with a driving lay-up to bring MSU within 37-34, Hampton responded with a 14-6 run. That run was led by Deron Powers and Reginald Johnson, who scored 18 points each on the night to lead five Pirates who scored in double figures. Johnson's lay-up gave the Pirates a 51-40 lead with 14:03 left in the game. Johnson was a lethal weapon for the Pirates as he scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half.
 
Morgan State didn't give up though. They fought back with a 13-6 run led by Childs-Harris. But it was Blossom who nailed two free throws to drive MSU within 57-53 with 9:32 left. Blossom posted a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
 
"We had the perfect formula," Blossom said, "but we made a couple of mental errors down the stretch and that hurt us in the long run."
 
Hampton had the answers all night long as they went on a 21-8 run to put the game to rest.  Wilson-Fisher punctuated the run with a lay-up to extend the Pirates advantage to 78-61 with 3:17 left.  

Hampton hurt the Bears with their shooting in the second half, hitting a blazing 61.5% (16-of-26) from the field. The Pirates finished the game by shooting 55.6% of their shots, compared to only 40.7% for the Bears.
 
Morgan State senior Blake Bozeman led everyone with 19 points on the night, followed by Childs-Harris who scored a season-high 18.

Bear Notes
It marked just the second time in the last nine seasons, the Bears have been defeated in the opening round of the MEAC Tournament.