Morgan State Bears overcome Bethune-Cookman late rally, 65-61

BALTIMORE, Maryland  -- Ian Chiles scored a game-high 23 points, Cedric Blossom had 10 points and 10 rebounds, and Morgan State overcame a late rally to beat Bethune-Cookman 65-61 on Saturday at Hill Field House.

The Bears improved to 12-14 overall and sit tied for 3rd place with a 10-4 record in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.

Bethune-Cookman (6-24, 4-11 MEAC) almost had enough down the stretch to overtake the Bears. However, Morgan State's lead was just enough, despite having what seemed to be an off night.

"Obviously I'm glad we won the game, but it wasn't' pretty and we've got to do better," Morgan State coach Todd Bozeman said. "So we've got to get out of whatever it is we're in, because we can't keep doing it like that. That wasn't good. That wasn't the way we play basketball -- we took a step backwards today."

Justin Black, who entered the game averaging 19.3 ppg, finished with a season-low 8 points and added eight rebounds and three assists. Blake Bozeman also chipped in 8 points.

The Wildcats were held to 9-for-29 shooting in the first half, but shot 44 percent in the second half and made things uncomfortable for the Bears down the stretch.

The Bears played through Ian Chiles throughout most of the first half. The 'Cats had a hard time containing the 7-foot-2 center who simple dominated the first half, shooting 6 of 8 from the floor for 16 points to lead the Bears. Clemmye Owens' halftime buzzer beater cut Morgan's lead to 30-28 at the break.

"My teammates were looking for me early," said Chiles. "I was able to give them some good production, offensively. During the second half, I slowed down a little bit; they kind of changed defenses so they had two, three people on me every time I touched the ball. So it was kind of tough in the second half, but I was able to pull through."

Owens led the Wildcats with 18 points and Malik Jackson added 11.

Bethune's Mikel Trapp (8 pts) opened up the second half scoring and tied the game at 30 apiece, before the Bears began pushing the accelerator. Morgan State proceeded to outscore the 'Cats 20-9 over the course of an 8 minute stretch. Following a dunk by Shaquille Duncan and a fastbreak layup by Justin Black, the Bears held a 50-38 lead with 11:28 remaining.

Morgan's lead grew to as many as 17 points (59-42) following a pair of dunks by Chiles. After that, things got interesting.

Bethune used a 19-4 run during the final 8 minutes to whittle away at the Bears lead. Mikel Trapp's layup cut Morgan's lead to 63-61 with 32 seconds left to go. Fortunately for the Bears, Cedric Blossom hit a pair of from throws with 15 seconds left and Maurice Taylor had his shot blocked by Duncan in the final moments to help the Bears hold on for the win.

Chiles added, "It was ugly and sloppy on both ends – offense and defense, but we pulled it out in the end and that's all that matters."

Box Score


Leonard Haynes, MSU Athletics Media Relations 
COURTESY MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS