Score: Morgan State 85 | Howard 79
Location: Hill Field House, Baltimore, Md.
Records: Morgan State 6-14, 2-2 | Howard 8-12, 2-2
The short story: Wynston Tabbs and Will Thomas combined for 44 points to lead the Morgan State men's basketball team to an 85-79 victory against Beltway rival Howard on Saturday at Hill Field House. The Bears improved to 6-14 overall and 2-2 in Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference play. The Bison dropped to 8-12 (2-2 MEAC).
OPENING TIP
- Redshirt-junior Will Thomas scored a game-high 24 points on an efficient 11-of-17 shooting from the field in 33 minutes. He also had five rebounds and a blocked shot.
- Redshirt-senior guard Wynston Tabbs scored 10 of his 20 points (4-9 3FG) in the closing moments to seal the Bears victory. The reinging MEAC Player of the Week, also added five boards and three assists and converted 8-for-8 from the free throw line.
- Sophomore Rob Lawson added 11 points (7-10 FT), including a season- game-high seven assists 34 minutes.
- Junior 6-foot-10 forward Allen Udemadu finished with 10 points (5-6 FG) and and had eight boards before fouling out of the ballgame.
- Seth Townes, a graduate student from Columbus, Ohio, led the Bison with 21-points on 8-of-13 shooting.
- Junior guard Bryce Harris scored 20 points (7-10 FG) with seven boards and two steals, while junior Marcus Dockery finished with 15 points and sophomore forward Dom Campbell added 13 points for the Bison.
THE DIFFERENCE
- Morgan connected on 54.4 percent of their shots from the field and was 6 of 19 from behind the arc, while the Bison shot 51 percent from the field and connected on 6 of 20 (.300) 3-pointers.
- Morgan shot .773 (17-22) from the free throw line, compared to the Howard's .636 percent (21-33).
- Howard held a slim advantage in the paint where they outscored the Bears by a 32-30 margin.
- Morgan outrebounded the Bison 31-28.
- The Bison scored 24 points off of forcing 17 Morgan turnovers.
- Morgan built a 14-point lead during the early going before seeing their lead whittled down to a 2-point lead at halftime (44-42) ... Will Thomas went into the intermission with 14 points in 15 minutes.
- The Bears held a 50-44 lead after Will Thomas hit a jumper within the first moments of the second half.
- Marcus Dockery buried to a 3-pointer to launch the Bison on a 13-4 surge and a dunk by Bryce Harris gave Howard a 57-54 lead with just over 13 minutes remaining on the clock.
- Morgan retook the lead at 58-57 (11:38) when Rob Lawson connected on a jumper. The Bears led by five (71-66) after Tabbs fed Thomas for a jumper, but the Bison ended up using a 7-2 spurt to knot the game at 73 with under 2 minutes left to go
- Tabbs hit a deep three to give the Bears a 76-73 lead. Howard's Seth Townes scored on a reverse layup to trim the lead to 76-75, but once again, Tabbs responded with another deep 3-pointer to give the Bears a 79-75 cushion with 49 seconds to go.
- Morgan then salted the game away from the foul line where they connected on 6 of their last 8 from the stripe to seal the win.
NOTABLE
- Saturday's contest marked the 115th meeting between the schools ... The Bears lead the series 67-48.
- Morgan's last win against Howard was on February 20, 2023 -- Redshirt sophomore Will Thomas had 24 points to lead Morgan State to an 89-76 victory over Howard on a Monday night in front of a raucous "Greek Night" crowd of 4,880 at Hill Field House.
- Morgan is 5-3 when leading at halftime.
- It was Morgan's first home win since defeating Virginia-Lynchburg, 120-50, on Dec. 9, 2023
- Thomas' 24 points and Tabbs' 20 points marked the sixth time this season the Bears have had a pair of players score 20 or more points in a game.
UP NEXT
The Bears return to action on Monday, January 29 when they take on the Norfolk State Spartans (13-8,3-1 MEAC) inside Echols Hall. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.
FOLLOW MORGAN STATE ATHLETICS 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.
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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.
