Raleigh, NC ? A great defensive effort and game plan fell short in the second half as the as the Delaware State Hornets dropped a disappointing 61-55 to top seeded Morgan State Bears in the semifinal round of the MEAC Tournament. The Bears (22-9), the Number 1 seed, will advance to the championship on Saturday.
Reggie Holmes scored all of his team-high 18 points in the second half and Boubacar Coly scored 13 and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the Bears.
The regular season champs, who defeated the Hornets (14-16), the Number 4 seed twice during the regular season, appeared in trouble early when they fell behind, 10-0 in the first nine minutes of the game. The Bears were out of synch and could not get any rhythm on offense.
“It was gut check time for us,” said second year head coach Todd Bozeman, the MEAC Coach of the Year. “We've been down before at the University of Miami and came back to lead the whole game before losing. I've never seen a game lost in the first five minutes. We dug ourselves in a hole with some breakdowns, but I thought if we could defend, we would be okay.”
Bozeman was right on. Morgan State went on a 14-5 run over a seven-minute stretch and got to within 15-14 before trailing 19-14 at the half. Although the Bears still trailed, they set the tone for the rest of the game.
The Hornets upped the margin to 24-16 at the 17:22 mark and then Morgan State took over. The Bears embarked on a 14-4 run that was capped off by a statement-making dunk on a nice feed from Jerrell Green to give Morgan State the lead for good.
“The season was a very demanding one with a young team,” said Delaware State head coach Greg Jackson. “Tonight, we got beat by a better basketball team. They took away a lot of things we wanted to do, particularly in the second half. They rebounded and defended extremely well.”
The formula for the second half success centered around the scoring of Holmes, the rebounding and defensive presence of Coly and the all-around play of Marquise Kately. In addition to his seven second half points, Kately did as good as job as anyone on Bright, one of the premier players in the MEAC.
“Last year, we lost to Delaware State and I turned to Kately and told him he would have to guard Roy Bright,” explained Bozeman. “And although he got 22 points, we did a good job on him in the second half. He had seven rebounds at the half and that is what he ended up with.” Bright hit on 4 of 8 in the first half but missed 7 of 11 in the final stanza.
Added Kately, “I just tried to deny him the ball, to stick to him. I asked Coach (Bozeman) about defending him. I knew that I had to make it hard for him by contesting every shot. He's a great player.”
With Bright under wraps, the Bears were able to put the game away at the free throw line where they shot 84 percent (21 of 25) in the final 20 minutes including Holmes, who converted 12 of 15.
Kyle White finished with a career high 10 points and Marcus Neal also added 10 for the Hornets.
