Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Bears overcome Pirates in double overtime, 94-92

BALTIMORE, Maryland  -- Torin Childs-Harris scored 5 points, Blake Bozeman hit a big three-pointer and Kyle Thomas nailed a few free throws in double-overtime that helped Morgan State beat Hampton 94-92 on Monday night in an ESPNU nationally televised game.

Morgan State improved to 8-12 overall and 6-2 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, and snapped Hampton's 3-game winning streak.


"It was a great college basketball game – and what a game for TV," said MSU head coach Todd Bozeman."Hampton played extremely hard. Obviously no team wants to lose that game, but it was a great game. I'm just so proud of the guys."

Childs converted a 3-point play and scored a fastbreak layup to help put the Bears ahead 85-83 with 1:37 remaining.  Blake Bozeman hit a deep 3-pointer to extend the lead to 90-85 with 22 seconds left.


Hampton's Brian Darden hit a trey with 2 seconds on the clock to cut the lead to 1, but Shaquille Duncan converted the back-end of two free throws to put the game away.


"That was the best atmosphere in Hill Field House in all of my three years here thus far," said Blake Bozeman." The game was amazing; the crowd was into it and they never let up on us. It was a great game. Probably the best game, better than the Coppin game -- and that's the best game every year, but this game topped it off."


The Bears followed the lead of Justin Black in the second half.  Hampton had a 48-38 lead before Black led the Bears on a 12-2 run to give them a 52-50 lead at the 10:57 mark of the second half.

Black, who had just 3 points in the first half, exploded for 23 points in the second half to finish with a game-high 26 points (7-14 FG) before fouling out.


"I really can't explain that game, it was probably one of the best games that I've ever been in," said Black. 


Du'Vaughn Maxwell led Hampton (11-11, 6-3 MEAC) with 25 points, 11 rebounds and a game-high 7 blocked shots. Deron Powers added 15 points and Brian Darden had 11.

Morgan State pushed it to a second overtime after Donte Pretlow was fouled near the sideline with 3 second on the clock and trailing 80-78. The sophomore stepped up and tied the game with a pair of clutch free throws.

Anthony Hubbard had a monster double-double by posting 18 points and a career-high 18 rebounds before fouling out in regulation. 


"I really can't explain that game," said Anthony Hubbard. "It was probably one of the best games that I've ever been in. As far as the team effort is concerned, everybody played like me, Justin Black, Ian [Chiles] … we all fouled out so it was like we had to be on the bench and continue to give those guys motivation. But they came in and did their thing, so that was big."

The Bears will return to action when they host the Norfolk State Spartans on Saturday, Feb. 8 at 4 p.m.


Box Score            

Bear Notes

+ Hampton held a commanding 61-46 rebounding margin, and outscored the Bears 40-30 in the paint

+ Morgan State shot 55% (33-60) from the free throw line, while the Pirates were 33-of-55 from the stripe

+ Anthony Hubbard collected his fourth double-double of the season

+ Torin Childs-Harris saw action for the first time this season

+ Morgan State scored 22 points off of Hampton's turnovers (16)

+ 10 players fouled out of the game (4 Bears - Hubbard, Chiles, Black and Blossom)


COURTESY MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA RELATIONS 

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