Game 21
Opponent: Florida A&M Rattlers (7-14, 4-2 MEAC)
Date: Monday, January 28, 2019
Site: Hill Field House, Baltimore, Md.
Game Time: 7:30 p.m. 
Series Record: Florida A&M leads 34-26
Live Stats/Video: morganstatebears.com | Radio: WEAA, 88.9 FM
Coaches: MSU - Todd Bozeman (155-209, 13th yr) • Florida A&M - Robert McCullum (16–39, 2nd yr)
Websites: www.MorganStateBears.com | www.famuathletics.com

SETTING THE STAGE
Morgan State men's basketball team (8-12, 3-4) prepare for a MEAC tilt when they host the Florida A&M Rattlers (7-14, 4-2) Monday night (Jan. 28) at Hill Field House. Game time is slated for 7:30 p.m. ET. The contest will be streamed live on morganstatebears.com. The Bears posted a 77-71 home victory Saturday against Bethune-Cookman.  Florida A&M held on to beat Coppin State 72-70 Saturday in Baltimore. 

THE SERIES
• Monday's contest will mark the 61st matchup between the schools ... Florida A&M leads the series 34-26.
• Tiwian Kendley  led the charge for the Bears Monday night as he scored a game-high 24 points while David Syfax had a season-high 17 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks as the Bears routed the Florida A&M 74-48 on Feb. 12 in Tallahassee. 
• The Rattlers last win against Morgan State was on Jan. 16, 2016 ... Travann Warren and Isaiah Omoregie scored 15 points apiece to help Florida A&M rally to beat Morgan State 72-65 at the Al Lawson Center. Cedric Blossom led the Bears with 18 points on 9-of-10 shooting, and Rasean Simpson added 14 points with a game-high eight rebounds and four steals. Phillip Carr chipped in nine points.

BEAR BITS
• Sophomore guard Kyson Rawls poured in a career-high 21 points off the bench against Bethune-Cookman (Jan. 26). 
• MSU's bench outscored Howard (Jan. 15) by a 40-10 margin.
• Junior forward David Syfax scored a season-high 16 points to help lead the Bears to an overtime win at Howard (Jan. 15)
• 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).
• The Bears scored 26 points off of 18 turnovers against Binghamton.

SCOUTING THE RATTLERS
• Florida A&M, who  were picked to finish seventh in the 2018-19 Preseason MEAC Poll, begins its second season under head coach Robert McCullum ... McCullum is a seasoned veteran with a résumé spanning more than 30 years, he joined FAMU after spending the last three seasons at Oregon, which made its first trip to the Final Four in 78 years this past April.
• Florida A&M finished the 2017-18 season with a 9-25 overall mark and finished with a 7-9 mark in the MEAC ... The Rattlers fell to Hampton, 75-71, in the MEAC Tournament quarterfinals at The Scope Arena.
• The Rattlers are led by Justin Ravenal. The senior 6-foot-1 guard is averaging 15.4 points (ranks No. 5 in MEAC) and is shooting 44 percent from the field and 46 percent for the three (ranks No. 2). M.J. Randolph (6-4, 165) has  started in 17 of 21 games for the Rattlers and has been named the MEAC Rookie of the Week five times so far this season -- he is averaging 7.9 points and 4.2 rebounds per game and is shooting 53 percent from the floor (ranks No. 5). Rod Melton is chipping in 7.8 ppg off the bench. 
• The Rattlers brought in seven new players including 7-foot-1 senior Isaiah Martin who transferred from Lamar C.C. and redshirt sophomore Darian Jones (6-9, 195) a transfer from Tulane.
• Florida A&M is averaging 62.2 points per game, while holding its opponents to 68.7 points.
• The Rattlers are shooting 43 percent from the field and 38.2 percent from 3-point territory.
• The Rattlers have gone 3-11 on the road, but improved to 2-1 in MEAC road contests following its win Saturday at Coppin State.

LAST TIME OUT FOR THE RATTLERS
Justin Ravenel scored 28 points with five 3-pointers and Florida A&M survived a late rally Saturday for a 72-70 victory over Coppin State. Tracy Hector added 16 points and eight rebounds for the Rattlers. Andrews-Fulton had 21 points and nine rebounds, Dejuan Clayton added 16 points and Lamar Morgan scored 11 for the Eagles (3-19, 3-4).

LAST TIME OUT FOR BEARS
Kyson Rawls had a career-high 21 points and Sherwyn Devonish-Prince Jr. scored 16 and Morgan State beat Bethune-Cookman 77-71 on Saturday to end a two-game skid. Malik Miller and David Syfax each scored 10 points for Morgan State (8-12, 3-4 Mid-Eastern Conference). Martez Cameron distributed five assists and now has 401 for his career. Cletrell Pope tied a career-high with 24 points and set a career-high with 22 rebounds for the Wildcats (8-12, 3-3).

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.

JUST THE FAX
• Junior 6-7 David Syfax continues to make an impact coming off the bench for the Bears. He's been a versatile player for the team and can play three positions as he actually comes off the bench to play either the three, four or five positions for Todd Bozeman.
• Averaging 8.1 points, Syfax scored in double-figures in seven games – including 12 games with eight or more points – after averaging 6.6 points per game a season ago.
• In fact, Syfax had a season-high 16 points – on 5-for-14 shooting to help lead the Bears to an overtime victory against Howard (Jan. 15).
• He is shooting 37.4 percent from the field (55-147) and has made nine 3-pointers (36%), which is only five away from his entire total his entire sophomore year (14).
• He has pulled down 4.6 rebounds per game and leads the team with 15 blocked shots.

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 20 games, he's averaging 7.6 ppg, 2.5 rpg and 3.5 apg (ranks No. 8 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 401 assists in 111 career games ... and counting ... currently 42 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. 

The National Trust for Historic Preservation named Morgan State University a National Treasure in 2016, in the latest significant effort towards preserving the rich cultural legacy of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The National Trust and Morgan State University have partnered to develop a preservation plan that stewards the many historic buildings on campus, while planning wisely for the university's future. To learn more about the Morgan State University National Treasure, visit www.savingplaces.org.