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Game 9
Opponent: Towson Tigers  (2-6, 0-0 CAA)
Date: Saturday, December 8, 2018
Site: Royal Farms Arena, Baltimore, Md.
Game Time: 1 p.m. 
Series Record: Towson leads 16-13
Live Stats: towsontigers.com
Radio: WEAA, 88.9FM | Lamont Germany (pxp)
Coaches: MSU - Todd Bozeman (150-202, 13th yr) • Towson - Pat Skerry (116-121, 8th yrs)
Websites: www.MorganStateBears.com | www.TowsonTigers.com

SETTING THE STAGE
Morgan State (3-5) will face Towson (2-6) on Saturday (Dec. 5) in the Charm City Classic. Start time at Royal Farms Arena is scheduled for 1 p.m. and will be broadcast on WEAA, 88.9FM. MSU will look to build upon 74-68 come from behind home win against Binghamton on Wednesday night. Towson suffered a 68-64 setback at George Washington and will attempt to snap a 2-game losing skid. 

THE SERIES
• Though the two schools are separated by a 15 minute drive, Saturday's contest will mark the 30th matchup between the schools with Towson leading the series 16-13.
• The Tigers have won in the last four meetings between the teams since 2013.
• Zane Martin scored eight of his career-high 25 points in overtime to help Towson beat Morgan State 82-78 on Dec. 6, 2017 in the 'Battle for Greater Baltimore' at SECU Arena. Phillip Carr secured his 17th career double-double by leading MSU with a season-high 25 points with 10 rebounds. LaPri McCray-Pace had 14 points and Martez Cameron chipped in 10.
• Morgan State's last win against Towson was on Dec. 22, 2009 - MSU overcame an early 13-point deficit and withstood a late charge to knockoff the Tigers 87-80 at Hill Field House. Sophomore Kevin Thompson had a stellar performance with career-highs of 23 points and 25 rebounds. Reggie Holmes, who entered the night ranked No. 2 in the nation in scoring (25.1 ppg), finished with 20 after scoring just four in the first half.

BEAR BITS
• The Bears have had seven different leading scorer in the first eight games of the season.
• Sophomore guard Kyson Rawls broke out for a career-high 18 point effort against George Mason while making five field goals and shooting a perfect 5-for-5 from the free throw line. 
• MSU out-rebounded George Mason by a 40-33 margin and the Bears had 45 points off the bench.
• The Bears scored 26 points off of 18 turnovers against Binghamton.

SCOUTING THE TIGERS
• Towson, a member of the Colonial Athletic Association, begins the sixth season under head coach Pat Skerry.
• Towson finished the 2017-18 season with a 18-14 overall mark and a fifth-place finish in the CAA at 8-10 ... Towson fell to the William & Mary in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament, 80-66.
• Junior 6-4 guard Brian Fobbs (14.5 ppg) has led Towson in scoring through its first eight games. He notched a new career-high against Loyola with 25 points and eight boards.  
• Junior 6-2 guard Tobias Howard is also averaging double-figures (10.8) and also set a new career high against Loyola with 23 points. • Redshirt junior forward Nakye Sanders (6-8, 240) is chipping is 8.8 points and 5 .0 rebounds. He is also shooting 58 percent from the field.
• Redshirt junior Dennis Tunstall (6-9, 225) ranks T-No. 3 in the CAA in offensive rebounds (3.4).
• The Tigers rebounded from an 0-3 trip to the Bahamas with an 85-69 victory over in-state rival Loyola (Md.) on Nov. 25, but suffered a 68-64 loss at George Washington (Dec. 8).
• Towson ranks No. 2 in the CAA in rebounding defense (31.9 avg) and No. 6 in the CAA in rebounding offense (35.1 avg)
• From the 10-team CAA field, Towson has the fifth-best field goal percentage defense (44.7%).

LAST TIME OUT FOR THE TIGERS 
Terry Nolan Jr. scored nine of his 24 points in the final five minutes to help George Washington beat Towson 68-64 on Wednesday night. DJ Williams added a career-high 19 points for George Washington. Nolan made four 3-pointers and was 10 of 14 from the free-throw line. Brian Fobbs scored 17 points to lead Towson.

LAST TIME OUT FOR BEARS
Jordan Little and Sherwyn Devonish-Prince Jr. each scored 14 points and Morgan State used a second-half comeback to beat Binghamton 74-68 on Wednesday night at Hill Field House. The Bearcats led 44-28 at halftime and extended the margin to 20 points early in the second half before Morgan State (3-5) mounted its rally. The Bears outscored Binghamton 30-8 in a 12-minute span and took a 58-56 lead with a pair for free throws by Jordan with 6:42 left. Sam Sessom's narrowed the deficit to 68-66 with 71 seconds left before the Bears closed it our making 6 of 8 from the foul line.

MSU-LINCOLN-PA. POSTPONED DUE TO WEATHER 
The Morgan State- Lincoln-Pa. men's game scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 15th at Hill Field House was postponed due to inclement weather. 
•  The game has been rescheduled for January 3rd. The time will be announced at a later date.

AT THE HELM
Todd Bozeman enters his 13th year at the helm as Morgan State men's head coach. The Bears have participated in six of the last 12 MEAC Tournament championships, captured back-to-back-MEAC Titles, and made appearances in the NIT and two NCAA Tournaments. 

WHO'S OUT
Morgan State's standouts Phillip Carr and guard Tiwian Kendley completed their careers as two of the school's all-time top players. Kendley, a 6-5 guard from Harlem, N.Y., has made his mark as one of the top players in school history. In his senior campaign, Kendley averaged 26.1 points per game and grabbed 4.0 rebounds per game while also averaging 2.1 steals per game. He is currently a member of the NBA G League's Washington Go-Gos. Carr is one of only seven players to wear the MSU uniform and score over 1,000 points with over 700 rebounds, totals that he accumulated in just three seasons as a Bear. Carr is currently playing for the New York Knicks team's G League affiliate, the Westchester Knicks.

WHO'S BACK
Back from last season's squad that finished with a 13-19 record are starters Martez Cameron and Antonio Gillespie, while Stanley Davis Jr. and David Syfax return to the Bears along with a number of contributors off the bench with: Tyler Streeter, LaPri McCray-Pace and Kyson Rawls.

WHO'S IN 
The Bears have added seven newcomers to the 2018-19 roster: G Ranell Bell; G Malik Miller;  G Sherwyn Devonish-Prince Jr.; G Isaiah Burke; F Jordan Little;  F Victor Curry; and F Taron Oliver Jr.

RETURNING PRODUCTION NUMBERS 
Morgan State returns 49.6 percent of its scoring, 28.4 percent of its rebounding and 55.1 percent of its minutes played totals from last year's team. The team leaders in field goal percentage (Tyler Streeter - .543 ), three-point percentage (Antonio Gillespie, .369), free throw percentage (Antonio Gillespie, .800), rebounding (David Syfax - 4.4 rpg), assists (Martez Cameron, 4.3), steals (Martez Cameron, 1.5),  blocked shots (David Syfax, 0.7). and minutes played (Martez Cameron, 32.6).  Six (6) players who started in at least five (5) games a year ago also return - Cameron (26), Davis (16), Gillespie (14 ), McCray-Pace (10), Rawls (6) and  Syfax (5).

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 four players from the DMV (D.C., Maryland & Metropolitan-D.C.) area. Freshman point guard Sherwyn Devonish-Prince Jr. is from Bladensburg, Md. and graduated from Wise HS. Freshman guard Isaiah Burke is from Annapolis and was a prep standout at Bowie HS, while junior forward Taron Oliver, Jr. played for Montrose Christian and is from District Heights, Md. Freshman guard Malik Miller hails from Washington, D.C. and played at Friendship Tech Prep.

BOZEMAN'S RETURNING STAFF
Morgan State head basketball coach Todd Bozeman coaching staff returns for their fourth 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 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 2018-19 season with three road matchups, first at Villanova Nov. 6, then at Saint Francis on Nov. 9, followed by DePaul on Nov. 12. The Bears' home-opener will be Nov. 15 versus Lincoln (Pa.), followed by a Nov. 20 date when they host the Naval Academy. The Bears will face Mount St. Mary's at Hill Field House on Nov. 25, and travel to George Mason on Nov. 28.  The Bears will face Virginia on Dec. 3 and will host Binghamton on Dec. 5. MSU will take on Towson on Dec. 8, followed by a matchup with Wilmington (Del.) on Dec. 17. MSU will wrap the month of December at Old Dominion (Dec. 22) and will travel to the west coast for a game at CA-Northridge Dec. 29.

PREDICTED TO FINISH SIXTH IN THE MEAC
The Morgan State men's basketball team has been tabbed to finish sixth in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Preseason Men's Basketball Poll the league announced today.  
• The Bears return two starters from last year's team, bringing back senior guards Martez Cameron and Antonio Gillespie. MSU also returns a few talented upperclassmen in senior guard Tyler Streeter and junior guard Stanley Davis and junior forward David Syfax.
• MSU was selected to finish sixth in 2018-19, earning 138 points in the poll of the league's head coaches and sports information directors who could not vote for their own team or team members. Bethune-Cookman edged out North Carolina Central for first place honors.
• Seven (7) Bears are back from a team that tied for seventh in the MEAC. Morgan State finished the year 7-9 in the conference and 13-19 overall. MSU's season ended with a 79-70 loss to North Carolina Central in the MEAC Tournament semifinals.
• The 2018 MEAC Basketball Tournament tips off March 5-10 at the Norfolk Scope Arena in Norfolk, Virginia.  For more information about the MEAC and its sponsored sports, log on to www.MEACSports.com.

ABOUT MORGAN
Morgan State University, founded in 1867, is a Carnegie-classified doctoral research institution offering 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.