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Game 10
Opponent: Towson Tigers (3-4)
Date: Wednesday, December 4, 2019
Site: Hill Field House, Baltimore, Md.
Game Time: 7 p.m.
Live Stats: here | Live Video: here
Radio: Heritage Sports Radio Network (HSRN.com)
MSU Coaches: MSU - Kevin Broadus (3-6, 1st yr) • Towson - Pat Skerry (127-140, 8th yr)
Websites: www.MorganStateBears.com | www.towsontigers.com
SETTING THE STAGE
The Morgan State Bears will host the Towson Tigers on Wednesday, Dec. 4 at 7 p.m. (EST) inside Hill Field House. The game will be broadcast on the Heritage Sports Radio Network (HSRN.com).
THE SERIES
• Towson leads the series 16-14.
• Morgan will face Towson for the first time since a 74-69 win on Dec. 8, 2018 in the Charm City Classic at Royal Farms Arena. Sherwyn Devonish-Prince had a game-high 19 points (3-4 3FG) and David Syfax added 10 as the Bears won the 30th all-time meeting between the Maryland schools.
• 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.
SCOUTING TOWSON
• The 2018-19 Towson Tigers posted a 10-22 overall mark and went 6-12 in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play. The Tigers concluded its season with a 74-73 loss to James Madison in the first round of the CAA Tournament at the North Charleston Coliseum.
• Head coach Pat Skerry returns for his 8th season with the Tigers where he holds a 127-140 record.
• Towson was picked sixth in the CAA preseason poll
• The Tigers return five starters and five lettermen including Brian Fobbs and Nakye Sanders.
• Brian Fobbs, who averages a team-leading 14.6 points per game, was named to the All-CAA Preseason 1st Team. Fobbs is the only Tiger to score in double-figures in each game this season.
• Nakye Sanders is the Tigers leading rebound with 7.4 boards per game.
• Towson ranks 2nd in the CAA in scoring defense (64.6) and field goal percentage defense (.385).
• Towson has held its last two opponents below 40 percent shooting: Buffalo (36.1) and Saint Joseph's (36.8).
LAST TIME OUT FOR THE TIGERS
• The Towson Tigers' were able to go on a 20-4 run to begin the game and held the lead for the rest of the game to defeat the Saint Joseph Hawks 76-64 on Nov. 24 at the Charleston Classic in Charleston, S.C.
• Towson improves their record to 3-4.
• Led by Juwan Gary with 14 points, four Tigers' players scored in double-figures. Brian Fobbs led the team in rebounds with seven and added 12 points.
• Allen Bertrand totaled 13 points and while Jakigh Dottin went for 12 points (5-8 FG), 4 boards and 3 assists.
• Towson held a 41-39 advantage on the boards and a 30-26 lead in points in the paint.
LAST TIME OUT FOR THE BEARS
• Morgan State (3-6) is coming off a 90-57 loss against No. 10 Ohio State on Friday night in Columbis, Ohio.
• Stanley Davis paced the Bears with 13 points and Troy Baxter chipped in 8 points and 8 rebounds.
• It marked Morgan State's first ever meeting against the Buckeyes.
CLOSE CALLS
• The Bears have started the 2019-20 season with a 1-3 record in games decided by 10 points or fewer, with a 71-65 loss to Saint Francis, followed by a 68-64 win at George Washington, and two close losses in The Islands of the Bahamas Showcase vs Milwaukee (62-57) and Evansville (115-112 3OT).
• After falling 81-71 on March 12 versus #7 seed Coppin State in the MEAC Tournament, Morgan State played 21 games during the 2019-20 season that was decided by 10 points or fewer. Of those games 17 were decided by seven points or fewer, including six by three points or fewer.
BEAR NOTES:
Morgan State is shooting 40.1 percent from the field and 26.6 percent from beyond the arc; the Bears shot a season-high 47 percent from the field vs. Central Penn (Nov. 6) ... Stanley Davis currently leads the Bears averaging 12.7 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.8 assists, including a 21-point effort in a triple overtime game versus Evansville (Nov. 24) … Troy Baxter posted his first double-double of the season during the win at George Washington (Nov. 16) … Baxter is averaging 6.8 rebounds and has 18 blocked shots (2.0 bpg), including a 5 blocks in his season debut vs. Central Penn (Nov. 6) … Sherwyn Devonish-Prince has scored in double figures in 7 of 9 games and is averaging 10.1 points, 3.8 rebounds and 32 minutes per game ... David Syfax is 9-for-14 from the free throw line and is shooting 40.7 percent from the field and is averaging 6.7 points with 3.0 boards.
AT THE CHARITY LINE
Morgan State is currently shooting 66.7 percent (134-201) from the stripe, led by Kyle Rawls who is shooting 84.2 percent (16-19). Lagio Grantsaan is shooting 83.3 percent (5-6) and Stanley Davis 76.2 percent (32-42).
• The Bears completed the 2018-19 season ranked No. 4 in the conference in free throw percentage by shooting 71.3 percent (477-669) from the line.
• Sherwyn Devonish-Prince led the MEAC by shooting 86.6 percent (97-112 FT), followed by Kyson Rawls who shot 82.1 percent from the line
(64-78; No. 5) and Stanley Davis is shooting 79.8 percent from the line (79-99; No. 9).
DAVIS CHASIN' 1,000
Senior guard Stanley Davis needs 254 points to reach 1,000 points for his Morgan State career. Following his 13-point effort against No. 10 Ohio State (Nov. 29), he currently has 746 points.
AT THE HELM
Kevin Broadus enters his first year at the helm as Morgan State's 16th head coach of the men's basketball program effective May 1, 2019. Broadus brings more than 20 years of coaching and elite-level recruiting experience to Morgan State. Broadus comes to Morgan from the University of Maryland, College Park, where he has been one of the nation's best recruiters as the top assistant on Mark Turgeon's coaching staff. This past season Broadus was influential in the successful NCAA tournament run for the Terps. Consistently ranked in the top 20 nationally for recruiting, Broadus was instrumental in signing a number of local Baltimore talents such as DeJuan Summers, Brandon Herbert, LaFonta Johnson, and Henry Sims.
WHO'S OUT
Tyler Streeter (Chicago, Ill./St. Francis de Sales HS), Antonio Gillespie (Memphis, Tenn./Memphis Central HS) and Martez Cameron (Chicago, Ill./Montverde Academy) wrapped up their collegiate careers and graduated last spring.
WHO'S BACK
The Bears return three starters from last year's team, bringing back guards Stanley Davis and Sherwyn Devonish-Prince, Jr and forward David Syfax. MSU also returns guards Isaiah Burke, Kyson Rawls, and Malik Miller, along with forwards LaPri McCray-Pace, Victor Curry and Malik Miller.
WHO'S IN
The Bears have added several newcomers to the 2019-20 roster: F Troy Baxter; F Victor Okafor; G Thai're Vance; F Lagio Grantsaan; F Peter Sorber; G Cameron Shaw; F Jamar Brown.
RETURNING PRODUCTION NUMBERS
Morgan State returns 75.6 percent of its scoring, 67.8 percent of its rebounding and 69.0 percent of its minutes played totals from last year's team. The team leaders in field goal percentage (Stanley Davis - .454 ), three-point percentage (Isaiah Burke, .370), free throw percentage (Sherwyn Devonish-Prince Jr., .866), rebounding (David Syfax - 4.6 rpg), assists (Sherwyn Devonish-Prince Jr., 2.2), steals (Stanley Davis, 1.1), blocked shots (David Syfax, 0.6). and minutes played (Sherwyn Devonish-Prince Jr., 28.0). Five (5) players who started in at least five (5) games a year ago also return - Devonish (30), Davis (25), Syfax (17 ), Curry (9), and McCray-Pace (8).
HOME GROWN
Morgan State has seven players from the DMV (D.C., Maryland & Metropolitan-D.C.) area. Sophomore point guard Sherwyn Devonish-Prince Jr. is from Bladensburg, Md. and graduated from Wise HS. Sophomore guard Isaiah Burke is from Annapolis and was a prep standout at Bowie HS, while senior forward Taron Oliver, Jr. played for Montrose Christian and is from District Heights, Md. Sophomore guard Malik Miller hails from Washington, D.C. and played at Friendship Tech Prep. Junior forward Victor Okafor is from Greenbelt, Md. and played at Eleanor Roosevelt HS. Freshman guard Thai're Vance is a product of Silver Spring, Md. and played at DeMatha Catholic HS. Cameron Shaw is a freshman guard from Baltimore who played at Loyola Blakefield HS.
BROADUS' STAFF
Morgan State head basketball coach Kevin Broadus' coaching staff enters their first season. The Bears coaching staff consists of assistant coaches Brian Merritt, Chretien Lukusa and Kevin Jones.
• Merritt joins the Bears after serving the last two seasons as the Coordinator of Basketball Operations at LSU. Merritt, a native of St. Mary's County, Maryland, joined LSU prior to the 2017-18 season after serving as Director of Scouting/Recruiting for John Lucas Enterprises.
• Lukusa was previously spent five years on Binghamton's staff, including a pair of seasons on the coaching side. A 2011 Binghamton graduate who also earned his master's degree at the University, Lukusa returned to the program in 2014. After serving two seasons as the coordinator of player development, Lukusa earned a promotion to assistant coach in Summer 2016.
• Jones was previously the assistant director of basketball operations and video coordinator at Radford University (2018-19) where he oversaw all things video and technology. Prior to Radford, Jones was an assistant coach at Norfolk State (2015-18) where he helped guide the Spartans to back-to-back second-place finishes in the MEAC and coached three All-MEAC guards.
THE NON-CONFERENCE SLATE
The Bears will play three nonconference games against teams that made the NCAA tournament last season, including Temple (Nov. 9 in the road opener), Liberty (Nov. 22 in the Islands of the Bahamas Showcase) and Ohio State (Nov. 29). There's a Nov. 16 trip to George Washington to get the Bears a nonconference game in Washington, and the annual showdown with crosstown foe Towson is Dec. 4 at Hill Field House.
PREDICTED TO FINISH EIGHTH IN THE MEAC
The Morgan State men's basketball team has been tabbed to finish eigth in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Preseason Men's Basketball Poll the league announced.
• The Bears return three starters from last year's team, bringing back guards Stanley Davis and Sherwyn Devonish-Prince, Jr and forward David Syfax. MSU also returns guards Isaiah Burke, Kyson Rawls, and Malik Miller, along with forwards LaPri McCray-Pace, Victor Curry and Malik Miller.
•MSU was selected to finish eighth in 2019-20, earning 101 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. North Carolina Central (203 points), who captured its third straight MEAC Tournament championship last season, edged out Bethune-Cookman (198 points) for first place honors, followed by defending regular-season champion Norfolk State.
• Eight (8) Bears are back from a team that placed 10th in the MEAC. Morgan State finished the year 6-7 in the conference and 9-21 overall. MSU's season ended with an 81-71 loss to Coppin State in the MEAC Tournament first round.
• The 2020 MEAC Basketball Tournament tips off March 10-14 at the Norfolk Scope Arena in Norfolk, Virginia. For more information about the MEAC and its sponsored sports, log on to www.MEACSports.com.
PRESEASON ALL-MEAC SELECTIONS
The Morgan State men's basketball team had a pair of Bears selected to the 2019-20 Preseason All-MEAC Team. Senior guard Stanley Davis was selected to the Second Team, while sophomore guard Sherwyn Devonish-Prince Jr. was named to the Third Team.
• The most proven player on the roster is senior Stanley Davis, who led Morgan State in both scoring (12.5 per game) and rebounding (7.1). The latter number ranked seventh in the MEAC last season.
• Sherwyn Devonish-Prince Jr. earned a place on the MEAC All-Rookie team by averaging 10.7 points as a true freshman.
BEARS TO HONOR ELIJAH CUMMINGS THROUGHOUT 2019-20 SEASON
Throughout the 2019-20 season, the Morgan State Bears student-athletes will celebrate the life of longtime Baltimore Congressman Elijah Cummings, who passed away on October 17, 2019, at the age of 68. In honor of Congressman Cummings and all of his many positive contributions to the University and his district, all Morgan State athletic teams will wear a special commemorative "EC" patch on their jerseys throughout the season. The Bears football team helmets will also be adorned with an EC decal.
• "Our department wanted to do something to recognize the many important contributions of the Honorable Elijah Cummings to the country, the City of Baltimore and Morgan State University," said Director of Athletics Edward Scott, Ph.D. "In speaking with our student-athletes, coaches and staff, we felt that the patches and decals would be the most appropriate way of demonstrating our appreciation to Regent Cummings and his family."
• The patch is a black circle with the initials "EC" in the center in orange letters and outlined in white.
• Congressman Cummings has a long history with Morgan State University and over the years has been one of its most staunch supporters. In addition to hosting many of his youth workshops and annual career fairs at Morgan, he also served on the University's Board of Regents for 19 years after having been appointed in July 1999 (he missed one year due to other commitments at the time).
FOLLOW US IN CYBERSPACE
There are many ways to keep up with MSU athletics online and on the go:
• Visit www.morganstatebears.com, the official web site of Bears athletics, for news, schedules, stats, bios and more.
• Follow us on social media:
Facebook: /MorganStateBears
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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.
