BALTIMORE, Md. -- It would take a little bit of time for Morgan State's Tiwian Kendley and Phillip Carr to get into the flow of playing together again, according to head coach Todd Bozeman. Especially with each of those players coming back from foot injuries at different times of the season. However, they may have started gelling at the right time.  The scoring and rebounding of those guys came into play at just the right time in the Bears' 83-75 win over the Savannah State Tigers at Hill Field House this evening.
 
It took the Bears a little while to get into the swing of things early as Savannah State (10-15, 7-5 MEAC) started feeling themselves from three-point range. Three-point shots from Dexter McClanahan, Jordan Gaines and Isaiah Felder turned an 8-all deadlock into a 17-8 Tigers' lead with 12:57 left in the first half.
 
But once Morgan State (11-14, 8-4 MEAC) started to attack the Tigers' zone defense, they took over.  The Bears outscored Savannah State 30-10 in a less than nine minute stretch after the Tigers' three-point barrage. The run was led by Kendley, who scored a game high 25 points this evening. A driving lay-up by Tyler Streeter gave the Bears a 38-27 advantage with 4:22 left in the first half. MSU maintained it all the way to a 47-38 halftime lead.
 
"That was the game plan," said Kendley. "Come in and attack their zone. Make lay-ups and go to the free throw line. Basically coach told us that he didn't want us to settle for outside (shots).  We did shoot a lot of threes, but after we figured it out we attacked and got to the free throw line and that was the game."
 
The Tigers opened up the second half scoring with the first eight points of the stanza. That run was started by Troyce Manassa, who scored the first six points of the second half. Manassa led the Tigers with 24 points in the game. Then McClanahan converted one of two free throws to draw the Tigers within 47-46 with 16:34 left in the game.
 
Morgan State responded with lay-ups from David Syfax and Martez Cameron to push the Bears' advantage back to 51-46 with 14:29 left. The Tigers would draw no closer than two points the rest of the way although there was a little scare late.
 
With 1:21 remaining and Morgan State in command 73-63, Azariah Sykes was called for a foul on Robert Kelly. After the foul was committed, Sykes was called for a technical foul.  Manassa would convert two technical free throws and then Sykes converted both free throws after that to get within 73-67 with 1:11 left. The Tigers got within 79-74 when Antonio Gillespie fouled Casey Wells while in the act of a three-point shot with 10 seconds left.
 
However, Wells missed the first two free throws and made the last one to push within 79-75. However, Kendley ended the threat with four consecutive free throws, putting the game away.
 
"I'm just glad to get a win," Bozeman said after the game. "After three games, you're waiting for Phil and Tiwian to get used to playing with each other again. So with 52 rebounds, we knew it was going to be a tough game. They like to shoot a lot of threes and play really fast. They play like Loyola Marymount, so it was really important for us to get back on defense. That's why we didn't press as much. Tiwian made his free throws, which was big."
 
The Bears hit the road on Monday night as they go to Dover to take on the Delaware State Hornets. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.