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Game 16
Opponent: South Carolina State (2-15, 0-1 MEAC)
Date: Saturday, January 12, 2019
Site: Hill Field House, Baltimore, Md.
Game Time: 4 p.m. 
Series Record: SCSU leads 42-35
Live Stats/Video: morganstatebears.com
Radio: WEAA, 88.9 FM | HSRN.com
Coaches: MSU - Todd Bozeman (153-206, 13th yr) • SCSU - Murray Garvin (64-122, 6th yr)
Websites: www.MorganStateBears.com | www.SCSUathletics.com

SETTING THE STAGE
Morgan State (6-9, 1-1) returns to conference action on Saturday, Jan. 12, as the Bears face South Carolina State. Game time is slated for 4 p.m. ET at Hill Field House in Baltimore, Md. The contest will be streamed live on morganstatebears.com. The Bears suffered an 88-87 overtime loss against Savannah State on Saturday. South Carolina State (2-15, 0-1) enters to a 7-game losing streak after a home defeat to North Carolina A&T, 80-77 (Jan. 5).

THE SERIES
• Saturday's contest will mark the 77th matchup between the schools ... The Bulldogs lead the series 42-35 ... Morgan State has won five of the last six meetings. 
• No. 7 Morgan State advanced to the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Basketball Tournament quarterfinals after holding off No. 10 South Carolina State, 83-80, inside the Norfolk Scope Arena on March 6, 2018.
• South Carolina State's last win against the Bears was on Jan. 29, 2016 -- Damani Applewhite had 18 points and 12 rebounds, Patrell Rogers added 15 points and nine rebounds with five assists and South Carolina State beat Morgan State 74-59 at Hill Field House. Tiwian Kendley scored 21 points for the Bears.

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 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).
• 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.
• 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 5-2 inside the confines of Hill Field House.

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
• South Carolina State head coach Murray Garvin (Eastern Kentucky, '98) enters his 7th season as the Bulldogs head coach ... During the 2015-16 season he  led the Bulldogs to a 19-15 overall record and advanced to the MEAC Title game and earned MEAC Coach of the Year.
• South Carolina State finished the 2017-18 season with a 10-22 overall mark and finished with a 6-10 mark in the MEAC ... The Bulldogs ended their season with an 83-80 loss to Morgan State in the MEAC Tournament quarterfinals.
• The Bulldogs are led by Preseason All-MEAC junior 6-8 forward Damani Applewhite who is averaging 18.9 points (No. 3 in MEAC) and 7 rebounds per game (No. 5) and is shooting 54 percent from the field (No. 7) . Janai Raynor-Powell (9.9 ppg), Ozante Fields (9 ppg), Lavar Harewood (8.8 ppg) and Rayshawn Neal (7 ppg) are adding balanced  scoring for the Bulldogs. 
• R-junior 5-10 guard Dwayne Banks is a Baltimore product who transferred to the Bulldogs from D-II Elizabeth City State.
• South Carolina State ranks No. 2 in the MEAC in rebounding defense (31.4 avg). 
• The Bulldogs are shooting 43 percent from the field and 29.5 percent from 3-point territory.

LAST TIME OUT FOR THE BULLDOGS
Junior guard Lavar Harewood tossed in a game-high 22 points connecting 5-of-8 from 3-point range, but it wasn't enough as South Carolina State dropped a heartbreaking 80-77 decision in overtime to visiting N.C. A&T State on Jan. 5th at Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center. Preseason All-MEAC selection Damani Applewhite recorded the games only double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds in the loss.

LAST TIME OUT FOR BEARS
Romani Hansen and Jaquan Dotson each scored 20 points and Savannah State rallied to beat Morgan State 88-87 in overtime on Monday night at Hill Field House. Kyson Rawls scored all 20 points of his career-high points in the first half with five 3-pointers for Morgan State. Stanley Davis added 15 points, Devonish-Prince 14 and David Syfax 12. Morgan State led 52-40 at halftime on the strength of 18-of-36 shooting including 9 of 16 from 3-point range.

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 10.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and assists per game.
• Davis has three-or-more assists in five of 15 games played. He recently recorded a season-high six assists with seven rebounds, 15 points and two steals in 37 minutes in an overtime loss against Savannah State (Jan. 7). 
• 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 46.2 percent from the field and 75 percent from the charity stripe.
• He is averaging 17.8 points, 8.5 rebounds and three steals over the course of his last four 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 15 games, he's averaging 7.7 ppg, 2.7rpg and 3.3 apg.
•  The Chicago product passed Donte Pretlow (2012-16; 335) to become No. 3 on the school's all-time assists leaderboard currently with 381 assists in 106 career games ... and counting ... currently 62 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.