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Game 10
Opponent: Niagara Purple Eagles (2-7)
Date: Saturday, December 13, 2025
Site: Hill Field House, Baltimore, Md.
Game Time: 4 p.m.
Series Record: Niagara leads 1-0
Live Stream: n/a
Radio Stream: HSRN.com
Live Stats: www.morganstatebears.com
Coaches: MSU -Kevin Broadus (83-102, 7th yr) • Niagara – Greg Paulus (80-105, 7th yr)
Websites: www.morganstatebears.com | www.purpleeagles.com

SETTING THE STAGE
• The Morgan State Bears (1–8) return to action on Saturday, Dec. 13, when they host the Niagara Purple Eagles (2-7) in a non-conference matchup at Hill Field House. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. The Bears have dropped seven straight and are coming off a 92–49 setback at DePaul on Tuesday night. Niagara has also lost six consecutive games, most recently falling 71–43 on the road to Saint Peter's last Sunday (Dec. 7).

•  Morgan State was losing to Niagara by as much as 25 points before launching a furious comeback in the 2nd half that fell short as the Purple Eagles held on to win 73-53 at the Leavey Center on Dec. 28, 2007, in Santa Clara, California.

• 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 enters Saturday's matchup leading the Bears by averaging 13.8 points on 32 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 averaging 13.3 points, 4.7 assists, and 3.1 rebounds and is shooting 46 percent from the floor.

• 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 currently averaging 13.1 points on 37 percent shooting from the field and 32 percent from beyond the arc.

• 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 NIAGARA
• Greg Paulus became the 23rd head coach of Niagara Basketball on Nov. 7, 2019. Paulus was on the staff at George Washington for the 2018-19 season and spent the 2017-18 season at Louisville, where he helped the Cardinals reach the NIT Quarterfinals. Paulus had a successful four-year playing career at Duke (2005-09). A three-year starter and two-time captain for Duke, he played on three ACC Championship teams and four NCAA Tournament teams.

•  Niagara was picked 12th in the preseason Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll.  Quinnipiac was picked to finish first.  

• Niagara junior guards Justin Page and Trenton Walters lead the Purple Eagles in scoring at 10.2 and 10.0 points per game, respectively. Senior forward Justin Hawkins adds 9.7 points and 3.7 rebounds per contest.

• Niagara's roster features a total of eight transfers. G Reggie Prudhomme (Cameron-DII), G Brian Griffith (Coffeyville-NJCAA), G Trenton Walters (Indian Hills-NJCAA), G/F  Josiah Sabino (Garden City CC-NJCAA), F Drew Larson (Northwest College-NJCAA), F Vice Zanki (Eastern Washington), C Kabeya Tshibangu (Northwestern Oklahoma State), and F Justin Hawkins (Thomas Jefferson University-DII).

LAST TIME OUT FOR THE PURPLE EAGLES
• Dec. 6, 2025 -- Niagara fell to 0-2 in conference play after being defeated by Saint Peter's 71-43 at the Yanitelli Center Sunday afternoon. Josiah Sabino and Brian Griffith both added layups to cut into the Peacocks lead before another media timeout to make it 51-36. Saint Peter's ended the game on a 20-7 run with Griffith, Hawkins and Kabeya Tshibangu accounting for Niagara's final points. Hawkins led the Purple and White with 10 points.

THE SERIES
• Niagara leads the series 1-0.

• The first meeting between Morgan State and Niagara was on Dec. 29, 2007 -- Morgan State was losing to Niagara by as much as 25 points before launching a furious comeback in the 2nd half that fell short as the Purple Eagles held on to win 73-53 at the Leavey Center before a crowd of 1,512 fans. Senior Charron Fisher scored 19 of his game-high 25 points in the first half and hauled down 10 rebounds to lead his team to a rout in the 41st annual Cable Car Classic. Senior center Boubacar Coly struggled throughout the first half before bouncing back in the 2nd. Coly was two blocks shy of recording his first triple-double of his career as he finished with a team-high 13 points (5-10 FG), 10 rebounds, with eight blocks.

NEXT UP
The Bears will begin a West Coast swing when they travel to face Cal on Friday (Dec. 20), followed by a matchup at San Francisco on Sunday (Dec. 22), before wrapping the trip at Loyola Marymount on Tuesday (Dec. 23).

AT THE HELM
• Kevin Broadus enters 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 (90 pts) in third place. 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.

PAINT PRESENCE
• Morgan has opened the 2025-26 season averaging 30.4 points in the paint, including a season-high 46 points against Central Penn (Nov. 6).
• Last season, the Bears averaged 38.7 points in the paint per game (1,237 total).
 

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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.