Box Score



BALTIMORE, MD. (NCCUEaglePride.com) – Morgan State University senior point guard Larry Bastfield’s career-high 20 points coinciding with North Carolina Central University’s 8-for-30 effort from the field in the second half led the host Bears to the 71-64 win over the Eagles on Monday night, Jan. 21 from Hill Field House in Baltimore, Md.
 
In the first meeting since Feb. 16, 1980, the Eagles came out strong to grab an early 8-4 advantage using pressure defense, even stretching the lead out to 16-9 with 13:32 to go following a Ray Willis (Atlanta, Ga.) jumper.
 
Morgan State finally found its rhythm and battled back to tie the game at 16-16 and the contest swung back-and-forth with four ties and three lead changes until back-to-back turnovers gave the veteran Bears enough room to score the last five points of the half to take a 37-32 lead into the locker room.
 
After the first 20 minutes it seemed NCCU had gotten over the disappointing offensive effort against Coppin State as the Eagles shot a stellar 56.5 percent from the field (13-for-23) and stayed even in the rebounding battle at 13-all considering the overall size of MSU.
 
Willis led the maroon and gray charge with 13 first-half points on 5-for-5 shooting, while Ebuka Anyaorah (Suwanee, Ga.) added seven points along with four rebounds.
 
The final 20 minutes began with a 9-0 NCCU spurt to grab the lead back at 41-37 with 16:45 remaining, but MSU answered back on a DeWayne Jackson bank-in three-pointer to make it 41-40 just 29 seconds later.
 
With a one-point lead and a little over 16 minutes left in the contest, the NCCU offensive attack went ice cold missing 10 shots over the next five minutes allowing Morgan State to take a five-point lead at 53-48.
 
As the Eagle offense became even more frigid, the defense could only hold the Bears off for a matter of time until MSU stretched the lead out to 66-56 with 3:40 to go.
 
Adding to the offensive woes, untimely turnovers were just the momentum the Bears needed to hold on for the 71-64 win, sending NCCU to its second straight defeat in the Charm City.
 
The Eagles (9-10, 3-3 MEAC) had four players in double figures as Sutton and Willis finished with 16 points, while Chasten contributed 12 points, and Anyaorah added 10 points in the loss.
 
NCCU shot a measly 8-for-30 in the second half and finished the contest 2-for-14 (14.3 percent) from the perimeter putting the Eagles at 4-for-33 (12.1 percent) from three-point range in the last two contests.
 
Morgan State had four players reach double figures led by Bastfield’s 20 points as Kevin Thompson finished with 13, Ameer Ali and Aric Brooks contributed 11 in the win for the host Bears.
 
The maroon and gray return to the Bull City for two conference matchups in-a-row as the Hornets of Delaware State University come to town on Saturday, Jan. 28 at 4:00 p.m., followed up by the University of Maryland Eastern Shore on Monday evening, Jan. 30, at 7:30 p.m. from McDougald-McLendon Gym.
 
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