#1 North Carolina Central “Eagles” vs. #3 Morgan State “Bears”
Saturday, March 15, 2014
Todd Bozeman, Morgan State Men’s Head Coach
(Opening Statement)
“I want to say congratulation to Central and Coach LeVelle Moton. They’re having an outstanding season because obviously it’s not over. They did a great job and had a great season, so I want to say congratulations to them. I want to say I’m proud of my team, because I thought they fought hard and played really hard out there. I’m just sorry that my seniors weren’t able to go out with a championship. These two guys played in three of these games and it’s tough to see them not get one. We got here and road them here, so I’m proud of them, they fought hard and the best team won tonight.”
(Game plan on Jeremy Ingram)
“We wanted to make him guard. It was a little tough. I thought that he was going to be head up on Justin [Black], the kid [Alfonzo] Houston was on him. It was tough because Justin got the two fouls in the first half, so we had to sit him. With two fouls in the first half I actually felt okay the fact that the score was tied with Justin not scoring. If you had told me that before, I wouldn’t believe that we would still be in the game. I was looking forward to him getting his groove in the second half, but it never happened. You have to give them credit. They did a good job and tried to focus on him and Ian and those two guys kind of carry us. It was just tough. Our strategy was to play man and we were going to switch it up. But I thought we did a good job. Just because he had 29 points doesn’t mean we couldn’t win the game. I thought it was a one-possession game for a large part there in the end. It’s not like we got blown out, but he carried them.”
(On Central’s free throw shooting)
“They’re a good team. They only lost five games. They’re a good team and they make their free throws and they run their stuff. But I thought we fought hard and the guys played hard, but obviously the best team won.”
(Ian Chiles effort)
“Ian did a great job and we go to him. We came here on Justin and Ian’s back and we’re going to leave on it. I’ll take them guys every day.”
(Being tied with NC Central at the half)
“I felt good coming into the game because I felt like when we played them down there we were actually up 13 in the first half and we had some turnovers that allowed them to get back in the game. I felt good with the fact that Justin hadn’t scored and it was a tied ballgame. If you look at the game before that he hit 23 in the first half against Coppin State. So they really made an effort and you could see it when we put him back in right before the end of the half and he brought the ball up, three or four guys went to him and that’s why we were able to get a guy open and make a play. They really just focused on him. At halftime I really wanted him to be more of a decoy. And he’s a play maker too, so he can make plays and that’s what we were looking to try to do, make plays and get the other guys involved.”
(On what Central should expect in reaching NCAA Tournament)
“First of all it’s a lot of fun. It’s a great time being one of the teams that’s playing. They can look forward to a great experience. Once you drink out of that cup you want to keep drinking from it. It’s just a good time. I wanted these guys to feel that. We just have to keep going back to work and hopefully we can get ourselves back in position to try to get there again. But it’s a tribute to them. They earned it and they have a right to enjoy it."
#50 Ian Chiles
(On getting to three MEAC Championship games)
“It’s tough. We fought every time. Today the better team won. They had a great season and did a lot of good things on defense. [Jeremy] had a great game. It’s tough. I’ve never won anything and this kind of fits into that.”
(On his performance tonight)
“First I want to thank my coach Todd Bozeman and the rest of the coaching staff. I didn’t have any scholarships coming out of high school and they took a chance on me. I really appreciate them for that. They gave me an opportunity to play and become a better person and a better player for the last five years. So I really appreciate that and appreciate them for that. Tonight they were single covering me and when that happens I feel that I can score on anyone. Coach kept coming to me. I was 8-for-13 tonight, one of my better shooting nights in the tournament. My teammates found me and it was just part of the plan. I did what my coaches wanted me to do and needed me to do. We just came up short tonight.”
