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Game 6
Opponent: Old Dominion Monarchs (2-3)
Date: Friday, November 21, 2025
Site: Chartway Arena, Norfolk, Va.
Game Time: 7 p.m.
Series Record: Old Dominion leads 4-0
Live Stream: ESPN+ | Radio: ESPN Sports Radio 94.1
Live Stats: www.odusports.com 
Coaches: MSU -Kevin Broadus (83-97, 7th yr) • Old Dominion - Mike Jones (17-23, 2nd yr)
Websites: www.morganstatebears.com | www.odusports.com

SETTING THE STAGE
• The Morgan State Bears (1–4) hit the road Friday, Nov. 21, for a showdown with the Old Dominion Monarchs (2–3). Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. (EST) at Chartway Arena.

• Morgan State lost the last meeting against ODU on Nov. 22, 2018.  Ahmad Caver scored 21 points with eight assists, and Old Dominion snapped Morgan State's three-game win streak with a 76-53 victory. Freshman Isaiah Burke scored 13 points for the Bears and was the only Morgan State player to reach double figures. 

• 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 leads the Bears, averaging 14.6 points on 39 percent shooting from the field and 39 percent from beyond the arc.

• 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 Friday's matchup averaging 14 points on 31 percent shooting from the field.

• 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 12.4 points, 4.8 assists, and 3.2 rebounds and is shooting 51 percent from the floor. 

• 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.

SCOUTING OLD DOMINION
• Mike Jones was named the 14th head coach in Old Dominion program history on March 1, 2024. He enters his second season at ODU in 2025-26. In his first season leading the program, the Monarchs finished 15-20 overall and 8-10 in Sun Belt Conference play. Jones is the second ODU alumnus to be the head coach of his alma mater, joining Oliver Purnell, who Jones played for his first three seasons at ODU. He also is the third African American head coach in program history, along with Purnell and the late Jeff Capel. 

• Robert Davis Jr. was named the Sun Belt's Preseason Player of the Year and a Preseason All-Sun Belt First Team selection while teammate Jordan Battle has earned a spot on the Preseason All-Sun Belt Third Team. The Monarchs were picked to finish fifth in the Preseason Coaches Poll, receiving two first-place votes and 145 points. James Madison was chosen as the favorite to win the Sun Belt

• Old Dominion returns nine players from last season and has added seven newcomers. In addition to Battle, other transfers include guards KC Shaw (UMES) and LJ Thomas (Austin Peay), guard/forward Drew McKenna (Georgetown), and forward Jared Turner (Northeastern). ODU also has two true freshmen in guard Zacch Wiggins and forward Elijah Flowers.

• The Monarchs are led by senior guard  Ketron Shaw, who is averaging 14.2 points and 2.8 rebounds through five games. Senior guard LJ Thomas is contributing 14 points and 3.8 rebounds, while senior guard Jordan Battle adds 8.2 points and 5.0 rebounds.

• The Monarchs are averaging 73.4 points per game while shooting 44 percent from the field and 29.5 percent from beyond the arc.

• ODU enters the week ranked among the Sun Belt's best in several key categories: No. 3 in three-point field goal percentage defense (.289), No. 4 in rebounding offense (38.8 rpg), tied for No. 4 in blocked shots (17; 4.25 bpg), No. 5 in rebounding margin (+4.5), and No. 5 in overall field-goal percentage defense (.407).

LAST TIME OUT FOR THE MONARCHS
• Nov. 18, 2025 -- Old Dominion men's basketball could not overcome a slow start on Tuesday night at the Cintas Center as the Monarchs fell 99-69 to Xavier. Four Monarchs finished in double figures, led by LJ Thomas with 13 points on 4-for-6 shooting from the floor and a perfect 5-for-5 at the free-throw line. Drew McKenna made 2-of-3 shots from distance and finished with 12 points, and Robert Davis Jr. and Caelum Swanton-Rodger contributed 10 points each.

THE SERIES
• ODU leads the series 4-0

• Dec. 22, 2018 -- Ahmad Caver scored 21 points with eight assists and Old Dominion snapped Morgan State's three-game win streak with a 76-53 victory. Caver was 9 of 15 from the field for the Monarchs (10-3). Marquis Godwin added 15 points, Xavier Green had 11 points and seven rebounds, and Aaron Carver had 10 points and a career-high 20 rebounds. Freshman Isaiah Burke scored 13 points for the Bears (5-6) and was the only Morgan State player to reach double figures. 

UP NEXT
The Bears will host Drexel on Tuesday, November 25, at Hill Field House. Tip-off is set for 6 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.

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ABOUT MORGAN
Morgan State University, founded in 1867, is a Carnegie-classified high research (R2) institution offering nearly 140 academic programs leading to degrees from the baccalaureate to the doctorate. As Maryland's Preeminent Public Urban Research University, and the only university to have its entire campus designated as a National Treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, 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.