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Game 29
Opponent: Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks (11-19, 8-7 MEAC)
Date: Thursday, March 2, 2017
Site:  Hytche Athletic Center, Princess Anne, Md.
Game Time: 7:30 p.m. 
Series Record: Morgan State leads 51-36
Live Video Stream: Click here
Radio: Shore Sports Network 
MSU Coaches: MSU - Todd Bozeman (173-176, 11th yr) • UMES Bobby Collins (39-56 3rd yr)
Websites: www.MorganStateBears.com | www.umeshawks.com

SETTING THE STAGE
Morgan State will culminate the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) regular season with a road matchup at Maryland Eastern Shore. Todd Bozeman's squad defeated Coppin State  (71-66) on Monday night and will enter Thursday's contest attempting to win its fifth straight game. Meanwhile, the Eagles (11-19, 8-7) are coming off a disappointing 79-69 loss at Howard. The game will be broadcast by Shore Sports Network and there will be live stats and video stream on umeshawks.com, and live updates throughout the game available on Twitter@MorganStBears.

SCOUTING THE HAWKS
• UMES finished the 2015-16 season with a 10-22 overall record, going 7-9 and finished T-5th in MEAC play. The Hawks return seven letterwinners, including three starters from a squad that lost in the MEAC Tournament opening round to Morgan State (L, 65-58).

• UMES was picked to finish 8th in the MEAC Preseason Poll and Bakari Copeland earned a spot on the Preseason All-MEAC 2nd Team.

• UMES has an 11-21 record and are 8-7 in the MEAC. The Hawks are averaging 72.2 points per game and are shooting 42.4 percent from the field and 34.4 percent from 3-point territory.

• Bobby Collins (Eastern Kentucky, '91) enters his third season as the Hawks' head coach. In his first season (2014-15), the Hawks concluded their year with an 18-15 overall record, the most wins by a UMES men's basketball team in 41 years.  He's coached at Winston-Salem State and Hampton.

•  The Hawks have two players who are averaging double-figures. Bakari Copeland leads the Hawks in scoring (17.2) and rebounding (6.3). Ryan Andino averages 13.7 points per game and leads the conference in 3-pointers made.

THE SERIES
• Monday marks the 88th meeting in the series. The Bears hold a 51-36 record against the Hawks.

•  The Hawks have won three of the last four meetings against Morgan State.

•  The last time vs. UMES was on March 8, 2016. The Bears used a late run to overcome the Hawks 65-58 in the opening round of the MEAC Tournament at Norfolk Scope Arena. Devin Martin closed the gap for UMES to 60-58 on a lay-up with 41 seconds left. However, the Bears put the game away at the free throw line by hitting three straight. Phillip Carr led the Bears with 16 points and 5 boards.

• MSU's last loss to UMES was March 3, 2016 -- The Bears nearly came back from an 18-point deficit, but fell to the Hawks 80-71 at Hill Field House in the regular season finale for both teams. Bakari Copeland led everyone with 23 points for UMES. Phillip Carr led the Bears with 17 points in the effort.

FAST BREAK 
•  Tiwian Kendley is currently averaging 21.3 points per game and ranks No. 17 in the nation in scoring.

•  The Bears are tops in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage defense (.281) and rank No. 5 in offensive rebounds per game (14.2). 

•  The Bears sit in third place in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference race with a 11-4 league record, 14-14 overall. 

•  The Bears, who had won just 16 games combined over the previous two seasons, now have won 11 of their past 15, and are looking for their first winning record since 2013.

•  Morgan State is No. 2 in the MEAC in free throw percentage (70.1), scoring defense (70.9 -T-No. 2 in ) and rebounding offense (39.0).

•  Tiwian Kendley had a 21-point performance against Coppin State (Feb. 27) it marked his 12th 20-point effort in 21 games.

•  Phillip Carr scored 10 points and had a game-high 10 rebounds vs. Coppin State (Feb. 27)...He currently leads the MEAC with 11 double-doubles (points & rebounds).

•  In his first career start, Tyler Streeter scored a season-high 12 points (6-11 FG) in 17 minutes vs. Savannah State on Feb. 18, 2017.

•  Martez Cameron is sixth in the MEAC in assists per game (4.4) and dished out a career-high 12 dimes vs. N.C. A&T on Jan. 16, 2017.

•  Three Bears (Phillip Carr, Tiwian Kendley, and Kyle Thomas) are averaging double figure points.

•  Martez Cameron had a career-high 10 rebounds along with 7 points and 4 assists in 29 minutes at Coppin State on Jan. 28, 2017.

•  Morgan State buried a season-high 12 3-pointers vs. N.C. A&T on Jan. 16, 2017. 

•  The Bears have a 13-1 record in games when leading with 3 minutes left in a game.

•  Morgan State's win against South Carolina State (Jan. 23) vaulted head coach Todd Bozeman to the number one position among all MSU head men's basketball coaches with 167 career wins.

AT THE HELM
Todd Bozeman enters his 11th year at the helm as Morgan State men's head coach. The Bears have participated in six of the last 10 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 three players from the DMV (D.C., Maryland & Metropolitan-D.C.) area. Returning senior forward Kyle Thomas is from Owings Mills, Md. and graduated from Milford Mill Academy. Newcomer Tyjhai Byers is from Bethesda and was a prep standout at Bethesda-Chevy Chase HS, while Tiwian Kendley played at Eleanor Roosevelt HS and is a product of Greenbelt, Md.

COMFORTABLE AT HILL FIELD HOUSE 
Todd Bozeman has won at least 10 home games in three of his 10 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 an 86-41 (.677) overall home record at Hill Field House. The Bears capped the 2016-17 regular season with a 9-5 home record.

NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE TO TEST YOUNG BEARS
The year will open with a matchup at Houston Nov. 11, followed by three home contests against Towson Nov. 15, Wilmington Nov. 17 and Campbell Nov. 19. The Bears then hit the road for games at Brown Nov. 23 and Bowling Green Nov. 26, before returning to Hill Field House to host High Point Nov. 28. The Bears open the month of December with a date at Rutgers Dec. 3, before hosting a pair of contests against Manhattan Dec. 6 and Wagner Dec. 10.  The remaining three non-conference games on the schedule will take place at Penn State Nov. 21, at Loyola Marymount Dec. 27 and at California State, Northridge Dec. 29.

BEARS' SUMMER TOUR IN CANADA
The 2016-17 men's basketball season began a bit earlier than usual, as Morgan State planned a trip to Canada in August. The 7-day trip was scheduled from August 13 and ran through August 20. In that span, the Bears will played five games against outside competition. While in Canada, the Bears played games in Montreal and Ottawa. The trip marked Morgan State's sixth foreign tour since 1974. Previously, the Bears have traveled internationally to Brazil (1974), Colombia (1975), Canada, Cancun, Windsor, Canada (2010), Mexico (2011) and Nassau, Bahamas (2012).
"The tour provides returning players that might not have played a lot, to gain some valuable experience against international competition," said Todd Bozeman, who is entering his 11th season as Morgan State's head coach. "The tour allows you 10 days to practice, which is invaluable! It's a tremendous opportunity to get started early and exposes the young people to another country and culture."

BOZEMAN'S RETURNING STAFF
Morgan State head basketball coach Todd Bozeman coaching staff returns for their second season. The 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 rst 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. 

WELCOME TO EAST COLD SPRING LANE
MSU's incoming class features four freshmen and three transfers. The incoming freshmen include 6-foot-4 guard Stanley Davis (Chester, Pa./STEM Academy), 6-foot-8 forward Azariah Sykes (Midlothian, Va./Millwood HS),  6-foot-7 David Syfax (Detroit, Mich./Pershing HS) and 6-foot-10 center Tyjahi Byers(Bethesda, Md./Bethesda-Chevy Chase HS). In addition, MSU welcomes 6-foot-2 guard Isiah Graves(Atlantic City, N.J./Atlantic City HS), who joins the Bears as a transfer from Southern C.C., Lamar C.C. transfer Tiwian Kendley (Harlem, N.Y./Roosevelt HS)  and Alex Ennis (Ocean, N.J.), a 6-foot-10 transfer from Independence C.C.

LARGEST MARGIN IN WIN
Morgan State posted an 83-43 victory over Coppin State (Feb. 1) for its largest margin of victory of the 2015-16 season, and its largest margin of victory against the Eagles. 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.

NOTABLE DEPARTURE
The Bears will look to replace standout forward Cedric Blossom who statistically ranked among the top players for Morgan State last season.
• He was selected All-MEAC Third Team and completed the 2015-16 regular season ranked No. 10 in the MEAC in scoring (14.9 ppg), ranked No. 7 in field goal shooting percentage (.497), and he also averaged 6.6 rebounds per game.
 
• Blossom's selection to the All-MEAC Third-Team marks the eighth time out of 10 seasons under head coach Todd Bozeman that a Morgan State player has been named to the All-MEAC first, second or third team.

• He is currently a member of the Petrolero Argentino basketball team in Argentina.

RETURNING POINTS, REBOUNDS, ASSISTS
• Morgan State returns 43.1 percent of its scoring from a year ago -- 29.0 ppg  out of an average during the 2015-16 season of 67.4 points ... MSU returns 14.4 boards a game from a year ago and that's about 41.0 percent of last year's team average of 35.1 a game.

• When it comes to assists, MSU returns just 144 assists from the total of 349 assists from last season or 41.2 percent returning.