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Game 17
Opponent: Howard Bison (7-10, 1-2 MEAC)
Date: Tuesday, January 15, 2019
Site: The Burr Gymnasium, Washington, D.C.
Game Time: 7:30 p.m. 
Series Record: MSU leads 63-44
Live Stats/Video: HUBison.com
Radio: WEAA, 88.9 FM
Coaches: MSU - Todd Bozeman (153-207, 13th yr) • Howard - Kevin Nickleberry (86–187, 8th yr)
Websites: www.MorganStateBears.com | www.HUBison.com

SETTING THE STAGE
Morgan State (6-10, 1-2) returns to conference action on Tuesday, Jan. 15, as the Bears square-off against the Howard Bison. Game time is slated for 7:30 p.m. ET at The Burr Gymnasium in Washington, D.C. The contest will be streamed live on morganstatebears.com. The Bears suffered an 72-68 setback against South Carolina State on Saturday. Howard (7-10, 1-2) is coming off a 71-63 home loss against Bethune-Cookman and has lost seven of their last eight contests. This game was originally scheduled for Monday, January 14 but was postponed due to heavy snow in the area.

THE SERIES
• Monday's contest will mark the 108th matchup between the schools ... The Bears lead the series 63-44.
• James Miller scored 24 points and blocked Morgan State's potential tying layup with 20 seconds left as Howard beat the Bears 70-67 on Feb. 13, 2017. Antonio Gillespie and Phillip Carr scored 15 apiece for the Bears.
• Morgan State's last win against the Bison was on Feb. 5, 2018 --  Tiwian Kendley scored 27 points and Phillip Carr had 20 and 13 boards to help Morgan State beat Howard 97-61. It was Morgan State's highest scoring output since beating Norfolk State 100-94 in overtime on Jan. 31, 2010.

BEAR BITS
• MSU's bench outscored Savannah State (Jan. 7) by a 43-11 margin.
• Sophomore guard Kyson Rawls scored all 20 points of his career-high points in the first half with five 3-pointers against Savannah State (Jan. 7)
• Morgan State converted a school record 27-of-27 free throws during its contest versus Lincoln-Pa. (Jan.3).
• Junior guard Stanley Davis recorded career-highs of 28 points and 19 rebounds vs. South Carolina State (Jan. 12).
• MSU out-rebounded Wilmington by a 45-27 margin and the Bears scored 42 points in the paint.
• The Bears scored 26 points off of 18 turnovers against Binghamton.

SCOUTING THE BiSON
• Howard head coach Kevin Nickleberry (Virginia Wesleyan, '86) enters his ninth season as the Bisons head coach ... Nickelberry has also shown his ability to recruit great talent, as highlighted by the 2013 recruiting class of James Carlton, James Miller, Damon Collins, Marcel Boyd and James Daniel III.
• Howard finished the 2017-18 season with a 10-23 overall mark and finished 7-9 in MEAC regular season ... The Bison were defeated by Florida A&M 88-78 in the 2018 MEAC Tournament First Round.
• The Bisonare led by a pair of the league's top scorers -- Sophomore 6-1 guard RJ Cole who is averaging 21.1 points (No. 1 in MEAC) and is shooting 40 percent from the field and is dishing out 6.3 assists per game. Charles Williams, a 6-6 sophomore from Richmond, Va., is averaging 18.5 points (ranks No. 2) and is shooting 43.7 percent from the field and is shooting 34 percent from the three.
• 6-foot-7 forward Zion Cousins (Upper Marlboro, Md.) leads the Bison on the glass by averaging 8.1 rebounds per game (ranks No. 4 in the MEAC).
• Howard leads the MEAC in scorings (79.8 ppg) and ranks No. 2 in the league in turnover margin (+2.47).

LAST TIME OUT FOR THE BISON
Mark Gordon scored 22 points and hit 5 of 7 3-pointers, Wali Parks scored 10 points, including nine straight in a game-changing 11-2 run in the final 2:01, and Bethune-Cookman beat Howard 71-63 on Saturday. RJ Cole scored 20 for Howard (7-10, 1-2), Lott added 14 and Charles Williams had 11.

LAST TIME OUT FOR BEARS
The Bears fell to South Carolina State, 72-68, Saturday afternoon at Hill Field House. Junior guard Stanley Davis had a career-performance for the Bears. The Chester (Pa.) product scored a career-high 28 points on 10 of 21 shooting from the field, and coupled it with a career-high 19 of the Bears' 41 rebounds. Senior guard Martez Cameron chipped in 14 points (6-8 FG) with four assists.

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.

MORGAN'S DRIVING FORCE 
• Stanley Davis continues to be the main engine for MSU as he controls the Bears offense and defense. 
• So far this season, Davis is averaging 11.8 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2 assists per game.
• Davis has three-or-more assists in six of 16 games played. He recently recorded career-highs of 28 points (10-21 FG) and 19 rebounds in 34 minutes of action vs. South Carlolina State (Jan. 12) ... he also chipped in three assists.
• Davis posted his first double-double of the season (15 points, 12 rebounds) against George Mason (Nov. 28). He missed recorded his second possible double-double as he finished with a career-high 25 points to go along with nine rebounds at CSUN (Dec. 29).
• Davis is currently shooting 46.3 percent from the field and 76 percent from the charity stripe.
• He is averaging 19.8 points, 9.6 rebounds and three steals over the course of his last five games.

DISHING OUT DIMES
MSU senior point guard Martez Cameron led the Bears in assists during the 2017-18 by averaging just over four per game (4.4) in 31 games.
•  Cameron dished out a season-high 6 assists to go along with 13 points and 5 rebounds versus Binghamton (Dec. 5) ... he also had six assists vs. Lincoln-Pa. (Jan. 3) and Savannah State (Jan. 7).
•  Thru 16 games, he's averaging 7.6 ppg, 2.5 rpg and 3.4 apg (ranks No. 7 in MEAC).
•  The Chicago product passed Donte Pretlow (2012-16; 335) to become No. 3 on the school's all-time assists leaderboard currently with 385 assists in 107 career games ... and counting ... currently 58 assists away from becoming the school's all-time leader.
•  The only Bears ahead of Cameron on the all-time assists list are: No. 2 Billy Newton (421) and No. 1 Jason McCoy (442).

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.