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GAME 25: NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL  (10-15, 5-6 MEAC)
Saturday, February 20, 2016 • 4 p.m. • Hill Field House  • Baltimore, Md.
Live Stream: www.MorganStateBears.com
Radio: WEAA, 88.9 FM (weaa.org)
Series Record: NCCU leads the series 46-40
Head Coaches: MSU - Todd Bozeman (155-159, 10th yr) • NCCU– Levelle Moton (124-90, 7th yr)
Website: MSU - www.morganstatebears.com; www.nccueaglepride.com
 
BEARS SET TO HOST N.C. CENTRAL ON SATURDAY NIGHT
Morgan State will resume MEAC play when they host the North Carolina Central Eagles (10-15, 5-6 MEAC) on Saturday, Feb. 20. Game time is 4 p.m. at the Hill Field House. NCCU will enter the contest fresh off a 79-74 win against Florida A&M, while the Bears will look to rebound from a 87-79 loss at Hampton and snap a 4-game losing streak. NCCU returns to Baltimore for the first time since suffering a 71-64 loss to the Bears on Jan. 23, 2012.

PREVIEWING THE EAGLES
• NCCU returns one starter and eight letterwinners from its 2014-15 squad that went 25-8 and captured the MEAC regular season with a16-0 record. The Eagles lost to the Miami Hurricanes 75-71 in the first round of the NIT.
• Levelle Moton (NCCU, '96) enters his 7th season as head coach of the Eagles, he joined hall of fame coach John McLendon and national championship coach Michael Bernard as the only coaches in NCCU men's basketball history to lead the Eagles to three straight 20-win seasons. He was the 2014-15 NABC District Coach of the Year.
• NCCU, coming off of last season's MEAC regular season championship run, were picked 1st in the 2015-16 MEAC Preseason Poll.
• The Eagles have three players averaging double-figures in scoring led by Patrick Cole who is currently leading the way averaging 16.1 points per game to go along with 3.5 assists. Dante Holmes (14.9 ppg, 5.0 rpg) and Jeremiah Ingram (10.5 ppg, 5.9 rpg) are also averaging double-figures.
• NCCU is shooting 43 percent from the floor as a team and has connected on 159-of-468 (.340) 3-pointers.
• Dante Holmes made five 3-pointers and finished with 25 points and 12 rebounds to help NCCU beat Florida A&M 79-74 on Monday night. Kyle Benton added 12 points.

THE SERIES
• MSU will square off against NCCU for the 87th meeting in history between the two schools.
• The last matchup was on Feb. 21 in Durham, N.C. Jordan Parks had 20 points and 10 rebounds and Nimrod Hilliard added 19 points with seven assists to lead NCCU to a 74-59 win over the Bears. Blake Bozeman had 18 points and Andrew Hampton matched his season-high by adding 17 for Morgan State
• NCCU's last trip to Baltimore was on Jan. 24, 2012 when Larry Bastfield scored a career-high 20 points in leading the Bears to a 71-64 win over the Eagles. Kevin Thompson scored 13 and had five rebounds and three blocked shots. Ameer Ali and Aric Brooks added 11 points apiece.

NEXT UP
The Bears will return to Baltimore for the first of three straight home games starting on Saturday, February 20 with a 4 p.m. matchup against North Carolina Central. MSU will host N.C. A&T on Monday, Feb. 22, followed by Norfolk State on Wednesday, Feb. 24.
 
AT THE HELM
Todd Bozeman enters his 10th year at the helm as Morgan State men's head coach. The Bears have participated in six of the last nine MEAC Tournament championships, captured back-to-back-MEAC Titles, and made appearances in the NIT and two NCAA Tournaments.
 
BEWARE THE BEAR
Under the direction of Todd Bozeman, Morgan State has collected a couple of memorable wins against big-time opponents. The Bears have recorded historic wins against: Long Island (2009); Manhattan (2009); Arkansas (2009); DePaul (2008); and Maryland (2009).

HOME GROWN 
Morgan State has five (5) players from the DMV (D.C., Maryland & Metropolitan-D.C.) area, including two from Baltimore. Senior Donte Pretlow (Dunbar High) and redshirt junior Cliff Cornish (North County) are both from Baltimore. Senior Cedric Blossom (Montrose Christian) is from Columbia and senior Andrew Hampton is from Germantown (Seneca Valley), while freshman Anthony Tate (Takoma Academy) is from Fort Washington.
 
COMFORTABLE AT HILL FIELD HOUSE
Todd Bozeman has won at least 10 home games in three of his eight seasons in Baltimore. The 2007-08 (12-1) and 2009-10 (11-1) squads finished with just a single loss, while the 2010-11 squad went 10-2. Bozeman has led the Bears to a 75-34 (.688) overall home record at Hill Field House.

LARGEST MARGIN IN WIN
Morgan State posted an 83-43 victory over Coppin State (Feb. 1) for its largest margin of victory this season, and its largest margin of victory against the Eagles. The Bears also posted an 83-63 victory over Howard (Jan. 30)...so in its last two contests, Bozeman's Bears have outscored its last two opponents by a whopping 166-106 margin. Prior to the win against Howard, the Bears' previous largest margin of victories had been by five (5) points. On Nov. 21, 2015 the Bears posted their first win of the season with a 59-54 win at Campbell University, and on Jan. 9, 2016 they recorded a 63-58 victory against Delaware State.

BENCH PRODUCTION RESURGENCE
It's taken 24 games for the Bears bench production to go from fairly consistent numbers to dwindling in the last few games.
• MSU's starters (Cedric Blossom, Donte Pretlow, Rasean Simpson, Phillip Carr and Andre Horne) play at least 29 minutes and the bench plays just around 15. 
• In the past three games, the bench has contributed an average of 11.3 points. 
• Head coach Todd Bozeman's bench poured in a season-high 36 points off the bench during a win vs. Coppin State (Feb. 1).

THE CARR IMPACT
Senior Cedric Blossom has scored double figures in 14 of the 19 games he's played this season and is currently the Bears' leading scorer by averaging 14.7 ppg. The starting forward is shooting 48 percent from the field, has converted 65-of-99 (.657) free throws and is averaging 6.9 rebounds per game. He enters Saturday night's contest after posting a season-low 5 points on 2-for-9 shooting in 26 minutes at Hampton on Feb. 15. He had a career-high 28 points (11-17 FG) with 15 rebounds in 36 minutes at Norfolk State...his previous career high was 26 points vs. Savannah State (Feb. 7, 2015) and his previous career high in rebounds was 14 vs. Florida A&M (Jan. 17, 2015). The Preseason All-MEAC Second Team selection is averaging 13.0 thru the last three games for the Bears. He earned MEAC Player of the Week (Jan. 31).

BLOSSOM CLOSING IN ON 1,000
MSU senior forward Cedric Blossom is steadily approaching a career milestone. He's currently 32 points away from scoring 1,000 career points. Blossom enters Saturday's contest with 968 career points.

STARTING LINEUPS
Morgan State head coach Todd Bozeman has been mixing his lineups up during the early going of the season. The Bears have had a total of nine different starting lineups through the first 24 games.

MR. UTILITY
MSU senior swingman Rasean Simpson has really elevated the quality of his production this season. After missing the first five games of the 2015-16 season, the 6-foot-7, rangy San Diego native has started in the last 14 games and has practically been "Mr. Utility" for head coach Todd Bozeman's squad. Simpson, who entered the season known primarily for his defensive ability, has turned into a consistent scorer on the offensive end and ranks among the league leaders on the glass. Simpson is the team's second leading scorer by averaging 11.6 points per game, and he currently ranks among the league leaders in a couple of statistical categories: No. 5 in steals (1.5 spg); No. 10 in field goal percentage (.459); and No. 12 in rebounds (6.3 rpg).

"TAY" DIMES
With a pair of assists at Hampton on Feb. 15, Donte Pretlow has dished out a total of 86 assists in 23 starts for the Bears. The senior is currently averaging 3.7 assists per game (Ranked No. 5 in MEAC) and matched a career-high eight dimes versus UC Riverside on Dec. 28, 2015… he also had eight assists at Manhattan on Dec. 20, 2014. "Tay" will enter the North Carolina Central game this Saturday with 298 career assists in 112 games.

DOUBLE TROUBLE
Phillip Carr and Cedric Blossom have both recorded double-doubles in points and rebounds for the Bears this season. With 14 points and 17 rebounds against Goldey Beacom on Nov. 23, Carr posted the first double-double of the season. He posted his second double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 boards at South Carolina State (Feb. 8). Blossom finished with a 17 points and 12 rebounds on Dec. 23 against Rider, and exploded for career-highs with 28 points and 15 rebounds at Norfolk State on Feb. 13.

FOUR SENIORS
Head coach Todd Bozeman has four senior Bears who will be wrapping up their final games in a Blue and Orange uniform. The group of veterans includes: Cedric Blossom, Rasean Simpson, and Donte Pretlow. Andrew Hampton, who suffered a season-ending injury, will also be completing his collegiate career with the Bears.