7-foot-2 Ian Chiles has been the man in the middle for Morgan State basketball

IAN CHILES
Courtesy MSU Athletics

BALTIMORE, Maryland  -- Ian Chiles is thriving in the paint, shooting the ball well and inspiring fear in opponents who take shots by rejecting many of them.

“You win games a lot of time with your guard play,” Morgan State coach Todd Bozeman said, “but if you have a strong post presence, it is important, because those are where the higher-percentage shots come from. And also, as a defender, you have someone in there protecting against those higher-percentage shots.”

The 7-foot-2 senior center has blocked 14 shots in the past two games, including a career-high nine against Norfolk Sate on Saturday.

Chiles is second in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference with 3.1 rejections per game, and has amassed 68 blocks on the season, and 171 in his career.

Chiles also scored 23 points in Morgan State’s (9-13, 7-3) 82-77 win over rival Coppin State on Monday.

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