BALTIMORE, Md. -- The Bears have not had their great moments with the Hampton Pirates lately. However, when they needed to straighten up and get things going, the combination of Tiwian Kendley and Phillip Carr stepped up and pulled the Bears to a 77-70 win over Hampton this evening at Hill Field House.

The Bears take over sole possession of third place in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference race with a 10-4 league record, 13-14 overall.  The Pirates fell to 12-15 overall and 9-5 in the MEAC. 
 
It was a game of runs early until the Bears started to take control. With the game tied at 19 and 7:52 left in the first half, Morgan State broke away with a 14-6 run.  It was punctuated with a three-pointer by Antonio Gillespie with nine seconds left to give the Bears a 33-25 lead. That was the halftime advantage.
 
Lystander Bracey started the second half for Hampton on the right foot with a three-pointer, cutting the lead to 33-28 just 14 seconds after the start of the second half.  After that, the Bears outscored Hampton 22-9 for the next eight minutes. Part of that run was due to the aggressiveness of the Bears as they routinely drove to the basket and drew fouls. Carr was the catalyst for these plays as he recorded his first double-double since coming back from his foot injury with 18 points and 15 rebounds in the game. The Brooklyn native leads the league with 10 double-doubles so far this season.
 
Two free throws from Martez Cameron extended the Morgan State advantage to 55-37 with 11:43 remaining in the game.
 
Hampton didn't give up so easily as they responded with an 11-2 run. The run was led by Bracey with a three at a pivotal point in the run. But a couple of free throws by Kalin Fisher, who led the Pirates with 16 points, cut the deficit to 57-48 with 8:24 remaining.
 
Morgan State head coach Todd Bozeman took a timeout with eight minutes left and reminded his young men of a few things. "We decided to be smart and play to win and not play to lose," said Bozeman. "I just wanted them to calm down and play to win."
 
The Bears responded in kind with a couple of free throws each from Carr and Kendley.

Kendley led all scorers with 24 points (7-17 FG) and had four steals. A lay-up from Cameron gave the Bears a 63-49 lead with 6:03 left.
 
Hampton made another run and cut the MSU advantage to as many as five points twice. The last being 68-63 on a Charle Wilson-Fisher lay-up with 2:43 left.
 
But that's as close as the Pirates would get. Morgan State put the game away by taking care of the ball and converting a lay-up and a breakaway jam by Kyle Thomas.
 
Morgan State hurt the Pirates inside the paint and more effectively with offensive rebounding. The Bears outscored Hampton 20-6 on second chance points. They also outrebounded them on the offensive end 18-11.

"Coach (Bozeman) talks about it all the time," Carr said regarding the Bears' rebounding advantage. "He shared that we're No. 7 in the country in offensive rebounding."

"Everyday he just gives us a little something to motivate us. He told us that we're No. 1 in the country in defending the three-point line. So it's that much more to try to get us to get another part of our defense better."
 
Monday night is senior night at Hill Field House as cross-town rival Coppin State comes in to take on the Bears. All Morgan State fans are encouraged to wear white to participate in a 'White Out' night. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m.