Game 15
Opponent: Maryland Eastern Shore (4-13, 0-0 MEAC)
Date: Saturday, January 3, 2026
Site: Hytche Center, Princess Anne, Md.
Game Time: 4:30 p.m. ET
Series Record: Morgan State leads the series 60-42
Live Stream: Delmarvasportsnetwork.com
Live Stats: www.umeshawks.com
Coaches: MSU -Kevin Broadus (85-105, 7th yr) • UMES – Cleo Hill, Jr. (10-38, 2nd yr)
Websites: www.morganstatebears.com | www.umeshawksports.com

SETTING THE STAGE
• The Morgan State Bears (3–11) return to action on Saturday, Jan. 3, when they travel to face Maryland Eastern Shore (4–13) in a conference opener matchup at Hytche Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. (ET). Morgan State enters the contest coming off a 92–55 win versus Penn State Brandywine on Tuesday (Dec. 30). UMES most recently dropped a 94-71 decision against Texas on Monday.  

• 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 15.1 points on 34 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 currently averaging 13.5 points on 38 percent shooting from the field and 30 percent from beyond the arc.

• 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 13.7 points, 5.2 assists, and 3.2 rebounds and is shooting 50 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. Peggs is currently averaging 8.1 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 1.5 assists.

• Graduate center Dallas James spent four seasons at South Carolina State before joining the Indiana Hoosiers in 2024-25.

SCOUTING MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE
• Cleo Hill, Jr., was named the head men's basketball coach at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in June of 2024. A veteran coach, Hill comes to UMES with 17 seasons of head coaching experience, along with a variety of assistant coaching roles and an impressive collegiate playing career at North Carolina Central University. Hill spent the previous six seasons as the head coach of the Rams at Winston-Salem State University. Last season, Hill led the Rams to a 19-9 overall record along with a perfect 6-0 record in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association Northern Division. With the top record in the CIAA, the Rams were ranked in the D2CSC Atlantic Poll eight times.

•  Maryland Eastern Shore was picked to finish seventh in the league. UMES finished last season with a 6-25 record and went 2-12 in conference play.

• Senior 6-9 forward Joseph Locandro (Melbourne, Australia) and 6-8 guard/forward Zion Obanla (Houston, Texas) currently lead the Hawks in scoring. Locandro, a transfer from Mazenod College, is averaging 11.4 points, 3.8 rebounds and is shooting 51% from the field and 44% from the three. Obanla, a transfer from Claflin College, is averaging 8.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, and is shooting 61 percent from the field. Junior 6-0 guard Justin Monden (Raleigh, N.C.) is averaging 7.1 points and is shooting 43% from the field.

LAST TIME OUT FOR THE HAWKS
• Dec. 29, 2025 -- The University of Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks dropped their final non-conference game of the year in a 94-71loss to the Texas Longhorns on Monday.

• The UMES effort was highlighted by Joseph Locandro's 12 points in 21 minutes of play. Jaden Cooper had 11 points and seven rebounds while Zion Obanla added 10 points.

• Texas converted 31-of-42 free throws while the Hawks were 15-of-21 from the line.

• UMES was 0-7 in December.

THE SERIES
• MSU leads the series 60-42. 

•  Maryland Eastern Shore's last win against Morgan was on January 6, 2024 --  Morgan blew a late lead and fell to Maryland Eastern Shore by a score of 75-74 at the Hytche Athletic Center. Troy Hupstead paced the Hawks with 14 points (5-14 FG) and finished with a game-high 13 rebounds. Wynston Tabbs led the Bears with a game-high 20 points and connected on 4-of-7 3-pointers. Kameron Hobbs added 16 points (4-5 3FG) and had four rebounds, two assists, and a block in 30 minutes. 

• Morgan's last win against UMES was on February 1, 2025 -- Morgan State secured a hard-fought 75-72 victory over the Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks on Saturday, fueled by a strong performance from senior forward Daniel Akitoby. Akitoby's team-high 23 points proved crucial as the Bears weathered a late rally from the Hawks at the Hytche Center. 

UP NEXT
The Bears will face South Carolina State in their conference home-opener on Saturday, Jan. 10, at Hill Field House.

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.

 

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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.