Game 15
Opponent: Savannah State Tigers (3-12, 0-1 MEAC)
Date: Monday, January 7, 2019
Site: Hill Field House, Baltimore, Md.
Game Time: 7:30 p.m. 
Series Record: SSU leads 5-4
Live Stats: here | Watch here
Radio: WEAA, 88.9 FM
Coaches: MSU - Todd Bozeman (153-205, 13th yr) • SSU - Horace Broadnax (174-240, 13th yr)
Websites: www.MorganStateBears.com | www.SSUAthletics.com

SETTING THE STAGE
Morgan State (6-8, 1-0) returns to the hardwood on Monday, Jan. 7, as the Bears face Savannah State in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference action. Game time is slated for 7:30 p.m. ET at Hill Field House in Baltimore, Md. The contest will be streamed live on morganstatebears.com. The Bears snapped a 3-game losing streak following its win (66-53) against Maryland Eastern Shore on Saturday. Savannah State (3-12, 0-1) extended to an 8-game losing streak after falling at Coppin State, 73-67..

THE SERIES
• Monday night's contest will mark the 10th matchup between the schools ... The Tigers lead the series 5-4.
• Morgan State's last win against the Tigers was on Jan. 8, 2018 -- Tiwian Kendley and Phillip Carr combined to score 67 of Morgan State's 87 points as the Bears beat Florida A&M, 87-68 on Jan. 6 at Hill Field House. The victory is Morgan State's 35th in the 59-game history of the series.
• Savannah State's last win against the Bears was on Feb. 11, 2018 --  Alante Fenner scored a career-high 46 points to lead Savannah State to a 97-94 overtime victory over Morgan State. Fenner had a team-high seven rebounds, and made a free throw and forced a turnover in the final 11 seconds to send the game to overtime tied at 89.
Tiwian Kendley, who hit a field goal with 6.4 seconds left that beat the Tigers in the first matchup, scored 24 points to lead Morgan State. Kendley also added seven boards and five steals.

BEAR BITS
• The Bears have had seven different leading scorers in the first 14 games of the season.
• Morgan State converted a school record 27-of-27 free throws during its contest versus Lincoln-Pa. (Jan.3).
• Junior guard Stanley Davis scored a career-high 25 points and recorded nine rebounds at CSUN (Dec. 29), followed by 16 points and 7 boards vs. Lincoln-Pa. (Jan. 3).
• Sophomore guard Kyson Rawls broke out for a career-high 19 point effort against Towson while making five field goals and shooting a perfect 8-for-17 from the field. 
• 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.
• Freshman Sherwyn Devonish-Prince hit for double-figures for the seventh time in his last nine games and is averaging 10.6 ppg.
• The Bears loss to Lincoln-Pa. was the first home defeat since losing to Bethune-Cookman on Feb. 19, 2018 … MSU finished last season with an 8-2 home record ... The Bears are currently 4-1 inside the confines of Hill Field House.

SCOUTING THE TIGERS
• Savannah State head coach Horace Broadnax (Georgetown, '86) enters his 13th season as the Tigers full time head coach ... During his college career by helping lead Georgetown University to the 1984 NCAA Men's National Championship Title.
• Savannah State finished the 2017-18 season with a 15-17 overall mark and finished with a 12-4 mark in the MEAC ... The Tigers ended their season with a 58-56 loss to N.C. Central in the MEAC Tournament quarterfinals.
• The Tigers have a pair of players averaging double figures, led by junior 6-4 guard Jaquan Dotson who is averaging 13.3 points and 6.4 rebounds per game and is shooting 72 percent from the free throw line. Zack Sellers, a 6-1 junior, guard is averaging 11.5 points and is shooting 36 percent from the field. Senior 6-1 guard  Zaquavian Smith is chipping in 9.4 ppg, while junior forward Tyrell Harper and senior Jahlin Smith are both averaging 8.7 ppg.
• Senior 6-6 forward John Grant Jr. is a Baltimore product who transferred to the Rattlers from Howard County...3 AAA State Championship...Baltimore City Championship… Maryland City/County All- Star.

LAST TIME OUT FOR THE TIGERS
Dejuan Clayton scored 23 points with seven rebounds to lead Coppin State to its first win of the season, a 73-67 victory over Savannah State in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference opener on Saturday. Tyrell Harper scored 18 points with 10 boards to lead the Tigers (3-12, 0-1) who have lost eight straight.

LAST TIME OUT FOR BEARS
Stanley Davis scored 15 points, Malik Miller added 14 and Morgan State opened Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference play with a 66-53 victory over Maryland-Eastern Shore on Saturday. David Syfax added 11 points and eight rebounds, Davis had six rebounds and Miller added four rebounds, three assists and three steals for the Bears.

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.

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).
•  Thru 14 games, he's averaging 7.4 ppg, 2.7 rpg and 3.1 apg.
•  The Chicago product passed Donte Pretlow (2012-16; 335) to become No. 3 on the school's all-time assists leaderboard currently with 375 assists in 105 career games ... and counting.
•  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.