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Game 4
Opponent: Mercyhurst Lakers (2-1)
Date: Saturday 15, 2025
Site: Owen McCormick Court at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center, Erie, Pa.
Game Time: 4 p.m. EST
Series Record: Mercyhurst leads 1-0
Live Stream: NEC Front Row 
Live Stats: here
MSU Coaches: MSU -Kevin Broadus (83-95, 7th yr) • Mercyhurst - Gary Manchel 375-221, 22nd)
Websites: www.MorganStateBears.com | www.hurstathletics.com

SETTING THE STAGE
• The Morgan State Bears (1–2) are set for a road matchup against the Mercyhurst Lakers (2–2) on Saturday, Nov. 15. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m. (EST) inside Owen McCormick Court at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center.
• Morgan State lost the first and only meeting between the teams by a score of 78-73 on Nov. 6, 2024, at Hill Field House. Aidan Reichert scored 15 points and added six rebounds. Bernie Blunt had 12 points to lead the Lakers. The Bears (1-1) were led in scoring by Wynston Tabbs, who finished with 15 points. Morgan got 14 points and two steals from Will Thomas and 11 points from Rob Lawson.
• Senior guard Alfred Worrell Jr. played in 32 games and averaged 6.5 points and 1.6 rebounds as a junior at
Southern Mississippi last season. He shot 38 percent from the floor, 33 percent from distance, and 87 percent from
the free throw line. He enters Saturday's matchup averaging 16 points on 36 percent shooting from the field.
• Rob Lawson has emerged as a major spark off the bench to open the 2025–26 season. The senior guard led the Bears with a game-high 20 points, adding five rebounds and four assists in 29 minutes at Georgetown on Nov. 11. He followed that effort with another 20-point outing against Central Penn at Hill Field House. He's averaging 15 points on 45 percent shooting.
• Graduate guard Walter Peggs Jr. was a BOXTOROW DII HBCU All-America First Team selection as a standout at
Spring Hill College. He became the program's leading scorer in the Division-II era, with 1,137 career points. He also
broke the team's two-year career points per game record, averaging 21.3 points per game over two seasons.
• Graduate center Dallas James spent four seasons at South Carolina State before joining the Indiana Hoosiers in 2024-25.
• Graduate guard Elijah Davis transferred from Bowie State, where he started in every game (30) and averaged 10 points, 3.3 rebounds, 5 assists, 1.9 steals, and 31.8 minutes. He also played for Mississippi Valley State (2021-22), Walter State C.C. (2022-23), and Incarnate Word (2023-24). He's currently averaging 11 points, 5.7 assists, and 3.7 rebounds.

SCOUTING MERCYHURST
•  Gary Manchel, the eighth head coach in the history of the men's basketball program, enters his 23rd season as the Lakers' head man in 2025-26. Manchel has revitalized the Laker program and continues to build on his impressive resume that includes 516 career wins. The Lakers have been a fixture at the NCAA tournament in recent history, making appearances in 2014-15, 2015-16, 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22, and 2022-23.
• Mercyhurst was picked to finish fourth in the NEC men's basketball preseason poll, the league office announced Monday. Graduate guard Bernie Blunt III earned a spot on the 2025-26 Preseason All-NEC Team. Blunt, a guard from Morgantown, Pennsylvania, transferred to Mercyhurst after previous stops at Edinboro and Quinnipiac. He started in 27 games and averaged 12.5 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 1.5 assists in 26.4 minutes per game. Blunt set season highs with 27 points and 39 minutes played in a standout win over LIU. He enters the season just 68 points shy of 1,000 for his collegiate career.
• The Lakers are led by  Bernie Blunt III, who is averaging 18 points and 3.0 rebounds through four games. Sophomore guard Jake Lemelman is contributing 11 points per game, while sophomore forward Mykolas Ivanauskas adds 7.5 points and 7.3 rebounds.
• Deshaun Jackson Jr. leads the Lakers in assists (2.5) and is averaging 6.3 points and 3 rebounds per game.

LAST TIME OUT FOR THE LAKERS
• Mercyhurst fell to Canisius College, 58–55, in a tightly contested matchup at Koessler Athletic Center. The game featured four ties and four lead changes, highlighting the competitive nature of the contest. Bernie Blunt III led the team with 19 points and five rebounds. Jake Lemelman added 18 points, including two three-pointers. Qadir Martin contributed seven points along with two blocks and two steals, while James Thomas collected six rebounds and recorded two steals. 

THE SERIES
• Mercyhurst leads the series 1-0.
• Morgan State Bears faced off against Mercyhurst in a gripping non-conference matchup. It was a closely contested showdown at Hill Field House that kept fans on the edge of their seats right until the final buzzer. The game concluded with a heartbreakingly close score of 78-73 in favor of Mercyhurst. A nail-biting finish, Morgan scored on a fastbreak to help retake the lead for the Bears at 71-69 with just 1:30 left on the clock. The momentum seemed to shift back and forth like a pendulum, and with only 56 seconds on the clock, a pivotal moment emerged. Oliver's mishandled pass culminated in a costly turnover for the Bears. Seizing the opportunity, Jeff Planutis found himself wide open beyond the arc and decisively sank a three-pointer, propelling the Lakers ahead 74-71. The Bears fought valiantly to regain their footing, but the Lakers sealed the game with composure in the closing seconds. Aidan Reichert scored 15 points and added six rebounds. Bernie Blunt had 12 points and shot 1 of 4 from the field and 10 of 10 from the line. Ivanauskas also contributed seven rebounds for the Lakers (1-1).  The Bears (1-1) were led in scoring by Wynston Tabbs, who finished with 15 points. Morgan got 14 points and two steals from Will Thomas and 11 points from Rob Lawson.

UP NEXT
The Bears will host North Carolina A&T on Tuesday, November 18, at Hill Field House. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. EST.

AT THE HELM
• Kevin Broadus is in his seventh season at the helm of the program, having been named the men's head basketball coach in 2019.
• The Broadus-led Bears team has compiled several significant victories over non-conference competition, elevating the caliber of wins for a program that aims to compete at a championship level within the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). Broadus demonstrated exemplary leadership while successfully overcoming numerous challenges at the onset of his tenure at Morgan, including navigating the rebuilding of a program under the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• During the 2024–25 season, the Bears finished with an overall record of 14–18, highlighted by a balanced 7–7 mark in MEAC play. The performance mirrored that of the previous season, when Morgan State went 11–20 overall, while also posting a .500 record in conference competition. In 2022–23, the Bears finished 15–15 overall and 7–7 in the MEAC, following a 13–15 campaign in 2021–22 that saw them place fourth in the league standings and reach the MEAC Tournament semifinals. The year prior, in 2021, Morgan advanced all the way to the MEAC Tournament championship game.
• Before Morgan, Broadus worked at the University of Maryland, College Park, where he was one of the nation's best recruiters as the top assistant on Mark Turgeon's coaching staff. 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 several local Baltimore talents such as DeJuan Summers, Brandon Herbert, LaFonta Johnson, and Henry Sims.

WHO'S OUT
Kameron Hobbs (Stockbridge, Ga./Dutchtown HS), Wynston Tabbs (Suitland, Md./St. Mary's Ryken School HS), Amahrie Simpkins (Brooklyn, N.Y.), and Will Thomas (Baltimore, Md./Mervo HS) wrapped up their collegiate careers and graduated last spring. 
• Hobbs, a BOXTOROW HBCU First Team All-American, passed Jimmy Fields (139) to become No. 6 on Morgan State's all-time 3-point field goals leaderboard. He completed his career with 150 3-pointers.

WHO'S BACK
The Bears return three starters from last year's team, bringing back guard Rob Lawson and forward Trent Edwards. MSU also returns Christian Oliver, who was on the squad during the 2023-24 season.

WHO'S IN 
The Bears have added several newcomers to the 2025-26 roster: G Elijah Davis (Bowie State), G Alfred Worrell Jr. (Southern Mississippi), and G Christian Meeks (Waubonsee C.C.). Newcomers also include F  Eugene Alvin (Florida Southwestern) and F Manok Lual (Frostburg State), along with C Dallas James, a transfer from Indiana.

RETURNING PRODUCTION NUMBERS 
Morgan State returns 16.6 percent of its scoring, 18.7 percent of its rebounding, and 23.8 percent of its minutes played totals from last year's team. The team leaders in field goal percentage (Rob Lawson - .350), three-point percentage (Rob Lawson, .379), free throw percentage (Rob Lawson., .747), rebounding (Rob Lawson - 2.6 rpg), assists (Rob Lawson, 2.4), steals (Rob Lawson, 0.9), blocked shots (Trent Edwards, 1.0), and minutes played (Rob Lawson, 26.7).  Rob Lawson (23) is the only returner who has started in at least five (5) games a year ago.

HOME GROWN
Morgan State has five (5) players from the DMV (D.C., Maryland & Metropolitan-D.C.) area. Senior guard Rob Lawson is from Capitol Heights and played at National Christian Academy. Veteran guard Elijah Davis hails from Severn, Md., and played at Incarnate Word. Redshirt senior forward Jayden Socka is from Silver Spring, Md., and attended Springbrook HS. Graduate student guard Alfred Worrell Jr. and freshman David Bumpass are from Washington, D.C. Worrell went to Montgomery Blair HS, and Bumpass attended Friendship Tech Prep Academy.

ALL-CONFERENCE SELECTION
Graduate student Walter Peggs Jr., a transfer from Spring Hill College, was named to the preseason All-MEAC Third Team.
• Peggs was a BOXTOROW Division II HBCU All-America First Team selection and became the first player in program history to earn two BOXTOROW HBCU All-America honors. He was also a SIAC First Team All-Conference pick and was named to the NABC Honors Court.
• At Spring Hill, Peggs became the program's Division II era career scoring leader with 1,137 points and set the two-year career scoring average record at 21.3 points per game. He started all 26 games last season, averaging a career-best 26.0 points and 35.6 minutes per game. Peggs totaled 676 points to set the program's Division II single-season scoring record, while adding 92 rebounds. He also set Division II era records with 99 made three-pointers and 151 made free throws. Peggs shot career highs of 48.2% (213-442) from the field, 42.1% (99-235) from three-point range, and 87.8% (151-172) from the free-throw line.

TABBED TO FINISH FOURTH
The Morgan State men's basketball team has been picked to finish fourth in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference's preseason poll, announced by the conference today.
• The 2025-26 Bears earned 73 total points in the voting. Norfolk State claimed 12 first-place votes and 118 points total as the defending MEAC champions. Howard (97 pts) was selected second, followed by South Carolina State in third place (90 pts). Delaware State (70 pts), North Carolina Central (70 pts), Maryland Eastern Shore (31 pts), and Coppin State (27 pts) rounded out the league's predicted order of finish.