Score: Morgan State 80 | Coppin State 64
Location: Hill Field House, Baltimore, Md.
Records: Morgan State 9-12, 3-2 | Coppin State 3-17, 1-4
The short story:  Will Thomas scored a game-high 21 points to lead Morgan State to a 80-64 win against crosstown rival Coppin State on Saturday afternoon before a packed crowd at Hill Field House.
 

OPENING TIP

• Thomas shot 8-for-15 from the field, including 4-for-4 from the charity stripe and had five rebounds in 32 minutes.
• Kameron Hobbs scored 20 points (7-17 FG) with three boards and three assists in 33 minutes. Amahrie Simpkins added 15 points in the first half, while Daniel Akitoby notched 10 rebounds with six points and two blocked shots.
• The Eagles had four players in double-figures. Khali Horton led the way with 15 points (6-16 FG) in 33 minutes. Peter Oduro added a double-double by recording 13 points and  a game-high 11 rebounds. Toby Nnadozie chipped in 11 points and Julius Ellerbe had 10 points with four rebounds.

THE DIFFERENCE

• Morgan State shot 43 percent (29-66) from the field, including 35 percent (7-20) from 3-point territory. The Eagles shot  37 percent (23-62) from the floor and was 4-for-22 from behind the arc.
• Morgan shot 15-for-21 (71%) from the free throw line, compared to Coppin's 52 percent (14-27).
• The Bears held a 46-42 advantage on the boards, and outscored the Eagles 40-38 inside the paint. 
• The Eagles scored 22 points off of fastbreaks, compared to Morgan's 17.
• Coppin's bench outscored the Bears by a 14-10 margin.
• Will Thomas buried a 3-pointer to give the Bears a 15-7 lead during the early going. A 6-0 spurt by the Eagles trimmed the lead to 15-13 with 12 minutes left in the first half. 
• Amahrie Simpkins scored a layup to help spark an 8-2 run. Kameron Hobbs hit a 3-pointer to push Morgan's lead back to 8 (23-15) by the 10 minute mark. 
• Morgan held a 42-31 lead at the break.
• The Bears opened the second half with an 13-3 run and Thomas scored on a jumper to lift the Bears to the largest lead of the night at 55-34 with 14:49 left to play.
• The Eagles outscored the Bears 19-8 over a 7-minute stretch and back-to-back fastbreak layups by Khali Horton, followed by Toby Nnadozie closing the gap to just 10 point, 63-53. 
• Hobbs scored on a layup to jumpstart a 15-3 run during the Bears final push of the game. A conventional 3-point play by Thomas extended Morgan's lead to 78-56 with 3 minutes remaining to effectively seal the game.
   

NOTABLE

• With the win, Morgan has narrowed the gap against Coppin, bringing the series record to 63-42 in favor of the Eagles. 
• Morgan's home record improves to 9-3.
• Morgan's record improves to 6-1 when leading at the half.
• Will Thomas has scored 292 points so far this season, bringing his career total to 1,025 points… surpassing Ron Timus (2002-07) for the No. 28 spot on Morgan's all-time scoring list.
• Kameron Hobbs' 20-point effort was his eighth consecutive 20-point game of the season.

WHAT AWAITS

• The Bears return to action on Saturday, Feb. 1 against the Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks. Tip-off at Hill Field House is set for 4 p.m.