BALTIMORE, Md. (February 28, 2009) ? The Delaware State Men's Basketball Team (7-23, 5-10 MEAC) dropped its fourth-straight game, losing to the Morgan State Bears (19-11, 12-3 MEAC), 64-50, on Saturday, Feb. 28 at Hill Field House. The loss marked the fifth-straight to the Bears and the Hornets' 10th conference loss of the season.
“We got beat by a much better basketball team, all the way around,” said Head Coach Greg Jackson. “I can see why they (Morgan State) are the conference regular season champs. They are sound at every position. It was so hard to man-up on them because we were not strong enough to man-up on them. We tried to play zone but, they moved the ball extremely well. They are a good basketball team and I take my hat off to them. If we played this team 10 times, we would get beat nine. That's just the way it is. So, we have to regroup and get ready for the last regular season game”
Delaware State finished the night shooting 38.5 percent (20-of-52) from the floor and 35.0 (7-of-20) from beyond the arc. The Hornets were out-rebounded 37-29 and committed 11 turnovers, resulting in 11 Morgan State points. DSU forced nine turnovers which turned into seven points. The Hornets were led by Fred Bouie, who scored 16 points on 6-fo-10 shooting from the floor. The Orlando, Fla., native shot 75.0 percent from beyond the 3-point line and grabbed three rebounds. Frisco Sandidge and Trevor Welcher each recorded five rebounds to lead the team. Sandidge scored seven points on 3-of-6 shooting, while Welcher scored four points and notched a game-high six assists. Greg Smith and Donald Johnson poured in eight points each to round out the team's leading scorers.
Morgan State had three players in double figures. Reggie Holmes scored 15 points on 4-of-10 shooting (4-of-7 from the free-throw line). Jermaine Bolden notched 12 point on 5-of-8 shooting and Marquise Kately tallied 10 points, shooting 5-of-8 from the floor. Leading the Bears in rebounding was Kevin Thompson, who notched a game-high eight rebounds.
The Hornets fell behind, 5-0, with 18:09 left in the first half before scoring the team's first point of the game on a 3-pointer by Bouie. DSU hung around over the next four minutes, pulling within two points of MSU after Donald Johnson sank a trey with 14:03 on the game clock. The Bears scored five-straight points to take a 17-10 lead with 12:27 left in the half. Delaware State was held without a basket for nearly five minutes until Trevor Welcher converted a layup at the 7:09 mark. During the time, Morgan State went on a 9-0 run and opened up a 26-12 lead. Morgan State maintained its double-digit lead until Bouie scored two points on a layup with 6:20 left in the half. Morgan State regained a double-digit lead, extending its advantage by as many as 12 points. A layup by Greg Smith with 13 seconds left on the clock cut the MSU lead to eight as both teams headed into halftime.
During the first 20 minute, DSU shot 46.2 percent (12-of-26) from the floor and 30.0 percent (3-of-10) from 3-point land. Morgan State shot 56.0 percent (14-of-25) from the field and 42.9 percent (3-of-7) from “downtown”. The Bears held a 17-11 advantage on the boards during the first half.
Morgan State opened the second half with a 14-4 run through the first six minutes. The run extended the Bears lead to 18 points after Kevin Thompson converted a layup with 14:24 left in the game. DSU cut the Morgan State lead to 11 points following an 8-2 run which was capped off by a Bouie 3-pointer with 5:33 left in the game. However, the Hornets were unable to cut the lead to single digits, falling to the 2008-09 MEAC Regular Season Champions, 64-50.
Delaware State will travel to Princess Anne, Md., to take on the UMES Hawks on Thursday, March 5. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
