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Game 5
Opponent: Goldey-Beacom Lightning  (0-3)
Date: Tuesday, November 21, 2017
Site:  Hill Field House, Baltimore, Md.
Game Time: 7 p.m. 
Series Record: Morgan State leads 1-0
Live Stats & Video Stream: morganstatebears.com
Radio: Heritage Sports Radio Network - HSRN.org 
MSU Coaches: MSU - Todd Bozeman (175-180, 12th yr) • GBC - TJ Dekmar (20-10 2nd yr)
Websites: www.MorganStateBears.com | www.gbcathletics.com

SETTING THE STAGE
Morgan State (2-2) will host the Goldey-Beacom Lightning (0-3) on Tuesday at Hill Field House in Baltimore. The Lightning (0-3) suffered an 81-68 home loss to Saint Thomas Aquinas (Nov. 18). Corey Taite, a 6-8 freshman, scored 18 points (6-9 FG) to lead four Lightning in double-figures. Morgan State fell on the road to No. 24 West Virginia on Saturday. Freshman LaPri McCray-Pace and junior Martez Cameron led the Bears with 10 points each at WVU Coliseum. Sophomore center Tyjhai Byers added five boards and five blocked shots. 

SCOUTING THE LIGHTNING
• Goldey-Beacom, a NCAA Division II program from Wilmington, Del., begins the second season under head coach TJ Dekmar. The Lightning lost six players from last season's squad and will be a young group for the 2017-18 season. Goldey-Beacom returns four letterwinners, including a pair of starters from last season.
• The Lightning finished the 2016-17 season with a 20-7 overall mark and finished with a 14-5 conference record during TJ Dekmar's first year as Goldey-Beacom's head coach.
•  The Lightning's 20-7 record was the most regular-season triumphs in school history and a berth in the CACC.
•  Junior guards Corey Taite (18.0 ppg) and Mahir Johnson (11.7 ppg), along with senior 6-7 forward Dante Thompson (11.0 ppg, 5.7 rpg) have led the way thru the first three games.
•  Goldey-Beacom guard Isaiah Graves will be facing his old team when he returns to Hill Field House. The New Jersey native played in the Bears' backcourt a season ago.

THE SERIES
• The game will be the second matchup between the schools with Morgan State leading the series 1-0. 
• The Bears won 66-62 at Hill Field House in the first matchup between the teams on Nov. 23, 2015. Phillip Carr recorded his first career double-double with 14 points and a game-high 17 rebounds.

AT THE HELM
Todd Bozeman enters his 12th year at the helm as Morgan State men's head coach. The Bears have participated in six of the last 11 MEAC Tournament championships, captured back-to-back-MEAC Titles, and made appearances in the NIT and two NCAA Tournaments. Bozeman is also the school's all-time winningest coach with 175 victories...and counting!

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 three players from the DMV (D.C., Maryland & Metropolitan-D.C.) area. Returning sophomore forward Azariah Sykes is from Richmond, Va. and graduated from Milwood HS. Returning sophomore center Tyjhai Byers is from Bethesda and was a prep standout at Bethesda-Chevy Chase HS, while Harlem native Tiwian Kendley is not from the DMV... he did play at Eleanor Roosevelt HS.

CARR NAMED MEAC PRESEASON PLAYER OF THE YEAR, KENDLEY SELECTED TO FIRST TEAM
The MEAC announced that Morgan State forward Phillip Carr is the 2017-18 MEAC Preseason Player of the Year.
• Carr, a Brooklyn, New York, native, led the Bears in rebounding, and was second on the team in scoring last season.
• He was selected to the All-MEAC's first team while being the third Bear to earn the Defensive Player of the Year honor (Boubacar Coly – 2008, Kevin Thompson - 2010).
• Carr becomes the first Bear to be named the MEAC Preseason Player of the Year since Kevin Thompson before his senior season in 2010. Reggie Holmes is the last Bear to win the regular-season award, when he received the award in 2009.
• Todd Bozeman's Bears received 13 of 26 first-place votes, outdistancing Norfolk State, and reigning champion North Carolina Central atop the standings.
• Carr led the five-man preseason All-MEAC First-Team and was joined by teammate Tiwian Kendley, who was the MEAC's leading scorer after averaging 21.0 points per game last season. The rest of that group was Norfolk State's Zaynah Robinson, Bethune-Cookman's Brandon Tabb and Howard's Charles Williams.

BOZEMAN'S BRAIN TRUST
Morgan State head basketball coach Todd Bozeman coaching staff returns for their third season. The0 Bears coaching staff consists of assistant coaches Brian Ellerbe, Larry Stewart, and Hans Desir.
• Ellerbe spent four years at Virginia, starting in 1990. He worked under Jeff Jones, now coach at Old Dominion. He was also the first African-American Head Coach at Loyola University, Maryland and The University of Michigan.
• Stewart was the Associate Head Coach for the Bowie State men's basketball team where he spent six seasons. He played with the NBA's Bullets, Vancouver Grizzlies and Seattle Super Sonics until 1997. His brother, Stephen, is an assistant coach at Coppin State.
• Desir, a Miami native, joins the Bears staff with over 10 years of coaching experience. he was previously lead assistant coach for J.T. Burton at Motlow College.

CHALLENGING NON-CONFERENCE SLATE
The year will open the 2017-18 season with a pair of road matchups, first  at Binghamton Nov. 10, followed by South Florida Nov. 13. The Bears' season-opener will be Nov. 16 versus Lincoln (Pa.), followed by a Nov. 18 date at West Virginia. The Bears will host Goldey Beacom Nov. 21 for its final home contest of the year. The Bears remaining seven non-conference  games will occur on the road. MSU will wrap the month of November at Mount St. Mary's (Nov. 27) and George Washington (Nov. 29). The Bears travel schedule will continue with matchups at Navy (Dec.3 ), Towson (Dec. 6), Manhattan (Dec. 9) and George Mason (Dec 22). MSU's west coast swing will begin with a trip to face Grand Canyon Dec. 27 in Las Vegas, followed by a game at CA-Northridge Dec. 30.

THE CHARITY STRIPE
The Bears completed the 2016-17 season ranked No. 2 in the conference in free throw percentage by shooting 71.1 percent (484-681) from the line. Phillip Carr ranked No. 3 (.829) in the league, while Tiwian Kendley shot .786 from the stripe (No. 7 in MEAC).
• The Bears have started the 2017-18 season by shooting 67.5 percent (54-80) from the stripe. Martez Cameron at 82.4 percent (14-17), followed by Stanley Davis is shooting 81.8 percent (9-11) 

BEAR D 
The Bears defense was ranked among the conference leaders a season ago and should once again be solid defensively for 2017-18 season.
• The Bears rank No. 6 in the MEAC in field goal percentage defense at 45.4 percent.
• MSU's defense has limited opponents to an average of 75.0 points (No. 3 in MEAC)  thru the first four games.
• The Bears rank No. 11 in the MEAC in three-point field goal percentage defense at 37.6 percent.

COMFORTABLE AT HILL FIELD HOUSE
Todd Bozeman has won at least 10 home games in three of his nine 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 87-41 (.677) overall home record at  Hill Field House.

RETURNING PTS, REBS, ASTS
Morgan State returns 80.8 percent of its scoring from a season in which the team averaged 67.5 ppg during the 2016-17 season of 67.5 points ... MSU returns 74.9 boards a game from a year ago and that's about 74.3 percent of last year's team average of 39.0 a game ... When it comes to assists, MSU returns 263 assists from the total of 322 assists from last season or 81.7 percent returning.

EXTRA SHOTS
•  TJ Dekmar was named among the top 30 men's basketball coaches – head coaches and assistant coaches of all divisions – under age 30 as released by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC).
•  Coach Dekmar played four seasons at Pitt-Bradford, where he led the squad to two Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference finals and two ECAC Tournament appearances.
•  The Lightning held an 11-4 record in away games last season, including a 3-2 road record against non-conference away games.

BOARD CHAIR
Phillip Carr, the reigning MEAC Defensive Player of the Year, led the Bears in a 72-60 win over Lincoln-Pa. in which he grabbed a career record 19 rebounds, completely controlling the glass against the Lions.
•  Carr's 19 boards bested his previous record of 17, which he set Nov. 23, 2015 against Goldey-Beacom. 
•  Carr currently leads the Bears by averaging 10 points and 8.8 rebounds.

HES BACK… DISHING OUT DIMES
MSU junior point guard Martez Cameron led the Bears in assists during the 2016-17 by averaging just over four per game (4.3) in 30 starts.
•  Cameron notched 9 points (5-6 FT) and dished out a game-high five assists in the season opener against the Binghamton.
•  He scored 11 points (4-4 FT) with five dimes and three steals in 35 minutes during the Bears win versus Lincoln-Pa.
•  The Chicago product is currently averaging 10 points, 4 assists and is shooting 82.4 percent (14-17) from the charity stripe.

ABOUT MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
Morgan State University, founded in 1867, is celebrating its 150th year of excellence in higher education. A Carnegie-classified doctoral research institution, Morgan offers more than 100 academic programs leading to degrees from the baccalaureate to the doctorate. As Maryland's preeminent Public Urban Research University, Morgan serves a multiethnic and multiracial student body and seeks to ensure that the doors of higher education are opened as wide as possible to as many as possible. For more information about Morgan State University, visit www.morgan.edu.