MEAC Tournament: Coppin men moving onto semifinals

NORFOLK, Virginia  -- The Coppin State men’s basketball team refused to lose.

 

Despite an early deficit, adversity throughout the game and a determined Hampton team matching Coppin State’s intensity, the Eagles found a way to keep soaring.

 

Seventh-seeded Coppin State continued its memorable run through the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) men’s basketball tournament with an 83-77 victory over second-seeded Hampton Wednesday night in a fiercely fought pulse pounder of a quarterfinal game at the Scope Arena.

 

The Eagles displayed another finishing kick by outscoring Hampton, 11-4 in the final 1:17 to advance to Friday’s quarterfinals against the winner of the Florida A&M-Morgan State game at 8 p.m. The Eagles are rolling at the perfect time having won three consecutive games.

 

“I am just so proud the way of the way the players from Hampton played,” Coppin State coach Ron “Fang” Mitchell said. “They were very determined and they kept the pressure on us, but I am also proud of how our young men played tonight. Even through all the adversity out there, they kept striving and trying to find ways to win.”

 

In raising its overall record to 12-19, Coppin State was led in scoring by Taariq Cephas’ 24 points. Dallas Gary added a career-high 17 points along with seven rebounds. Michael Murray contributed 15 points to raise his career total to 1,024 and Sterling Smith scored 14 points for Coppin State. Daquan Brickhouse finished with nine points and five assists to help Coppin State advance to the MEAC semifinals for the first time since 2008.

 

The points were a season-high for Cephas, who was 5-for-8 from the field and 4-of-4 from 3-point distance. In two of his three career games at the Scope, Cephas has scored at least 20 points. Everytime it seemed as if the Eagles were on the ropes, Cephas delivered a big shot or got to the foul line to keep the Pirates scoring runs to a minimum. For much of the second-half, Cephas, a 5 foot, 11 junior guard, was large and in charge. He came through when the Eagles needed him most.

 

“He gave me a Taariq Cephas-type game,” Mitchell said. “I am proud of him and proud of the effort he put into the game today. When things weren’t going well for us, he hit some big shots and those are things we’re going to need going forward in this tournament.”

 

The game featured 11 ties and 11 lead changes. This was the third game this season between the Eagles and Pirates that was tightly contested. The teams had split their regular season matchups, with each team winning by three points on the other’s home court.

 

Neither team led by more than seven points in an entertaining, back-and-forth second half. There were three ties and five lead-changes in the last four minutes of the ball game alone. Hampton took its last lead of the night at 73-72 on a short one-handed jumper in the lane by Du’Vaughn Maxwell, who paced the Pirates with 23 points.

 

But Cephas hit two free throws at the other end to give CSU a 74-73 lead with 1:17 left. Hampton’s Deron Powers missed a 3-pointer and turned the ball over on the next two possessions, and CSU hit 9-of-10 from the free-throw line in the closing minute to seal the outcome. Overall, Coppin State was 29-for-41 from the foul line, the third time this season it attempted at least 40 foul shots and first time since Nov. 25 against Ohio Valley.

 

“We showed good basketball character tonight,” Cephas said. “That was a great test for us tonight. We had close games in the past and we didn’t close out well, but we learned from those experiences. That helped us tonight. We stuck together tonight even when there were times we could have strayed and gave them the game. We have a great opportunity right now in front of us.”

 

Hampton (18-12) was led by Du’Vaughn Maxwell’s 23 points and eight rebounds while Brian Darden finished with 17 points and five rebounds. The Pirates scored 23 second-chance points off 19 offensive rebounds, five coming from Maxwell, the senior All-MEAC first-team pick who paced the Pirates with eight rebounds.

 

Maxwell matched Cephas by scoring 17 second-half points. His put-back dunk with 7:18 left gave the Pirates a 61-55 lead, but CSU outscored Hampton 14-5 over the next four minutes to claim the lead. Dallas Gary’s 3-pointer from the top of the key tied the game at 66, then Gary added a free throw and Michael Murray drove for a layup to give the Eagles a 69-66 lead with 3:11 left.

 

Late in the game, the Eagles seemed to grab every important rebound that mattered.

 

“It means a lot that we have a chance to continue working toward accomplishing our goal,” Gary said. “Even though we’re not one of the top seeds in this tournament, we knew coming in here that we could play with anybody in this conference and it takes a good stretch of basketball of staying together and playing tough defense. It feels good to win two games, but we didn’t come here to win two games. We came here to win a championship.”

 

The Eagles had trouble getting started as they missed foul shots, turned the ball over and had trouble keeping Hampton off the offensive glass. However, the Eagles found their groove after falling behind, 27-20 with 5:36 remaining in the opening half. Coppin State unleashed a 14-0 blitz as part of a 16-3 spurt to close the first half. The Eagles held Hampton without a field goal for the final 6:35 of the second half to take a 36-30 lead into the locker room.

 

Gary scored Coppin State’s first nine points of the game to help Coppin close early until help arrived.

 

“I see a determined group,” Mitchell said of his players. “When it came time to dig in, they did it. You know, this isn’t my first rodeo. All week long, I’ve liked the attitudes they’ve had along with our practices. They’re also sacrificing for the good of the team and they’re together. We’re excited for the opportunity to play another game.”

BOXSCORE

By Rob Knox
COURTESY COPPIN STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION