BALTIMORE, Md.  -- Rasean Simpson had 18 points and nine rebounds and Andre Horne Jr. hit four 3-pointers and scored 18 more to help Morgan State upset Norfolk State 89-72 Wednesday night at Hill Field House.
 
Morgan State, which shot 51 percent in the first half, held a 42-28 lead behind Horne's 13 points and Kyle Thomas' 10. Thomas capped the first-half scoring with a 3-pointer from the corner -- for MSU's sixth 3.
 
"Every win is important and I'm glad we finished the game out," said MSU head coach Todd Bozeman. "We have to do better, it has to be cleaner than it was, but you have to take them [wins] any way you can get them."
 
The Bears outscored the Spartans 9-2 to open the second half and led 51-30.
 
Thomas finished with 16 points, Donte Pretlow added 13 and Cedric Blossom had a career-high seven assists for Morgan State (7-20 5-9 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference), which entered the game ranked last in the league.
 
"I was proud of Ced [Blossom]," Bozeman said. "He wasn't really scoring that much (8 points) because they were double and triple teaming him. But to his credit, he had seven assists. He shared the basketball and that's what good players do, so I was proud of him for that."


D'Shon Taylor had 20 points and 10 rebounds for Norfolk State (14-15-10-4), which remains in third place. The Spartans were just 2 of 18 from 3-point range.
 
Despite it being Morgan State's third game in six days, the Bears appeared much more energized than the Spartans.
 
Morgan State jumped out to an early lead, 12-4 after Horne hit his second 3-pointer at the 14:47 mark.  The lead ballooned to as many as 16 points when Pretlow finished at the rim to give the Bears a 39-23 lead with 3:20 left in the half.
 
The Bears bench outscored Norfolk State by a 30-22 margin and scored 14 points off of the Spartans' 16 turnovers.
 
Bozeman added, "The overall record withstanding, we wanted to prepare for the [MEAC] Tournament and I feel like we are going in the right direction."
 
The Bears will conclude the month with a crosstown road rematch against Coppin State on Saturday, Feb. 27.

Bear Bits
The Bears' 89 points was a season-high total
 
Morgan State shot 54.7 percent (29-53) from the field, including a season-best 9-for-15 (60 percent) from 3-point territory