BALTIMORE, Md. - Morgan State wrestled a 13-point lead away from Towson early and never gave it back as the homestanding Bears topped the Tigers 87-80 Tuesday night in Hill Field House.
The Tigers slipped to 3-6 on the year with the loss while Morgan, picked to win the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference title again this year, improved to 7-4. It was the 24th meeting between the two local schools. The Bears now lead the series, 13-11.
The speeding train Towson was riding in the first half jumped the tracks, derailing at the 10:35 mark. That's when RaShawn Polk's put back gave the Tigers' their biggest lead, 25-12. Towson's collapse followed. Morgan started hitting its shots and pounding the boards, outscoring the Tigers 34-10 the rest of the half to assume a 46-35 lead at the break.
Josh Thornton finished with a team high 21 points for Towson, scoring 18 in the first half including 14 of the Tigers' first 25 points with some dead-on three point shooting. But the Tigers had no answer for the Bears' 6-8 forward, Kevin Thompson, who had his national leading ninth double-double by halftime. He finished with career highs of 23 points and 25 rebounds as Morgan outrebounded the Tigers by an astounding 58-31 margin.
Reggie Holmes, the nation's fifth leading scorer with a 25.1 average, scored the first bucket of the second half to give Morgan its biggest lead of the game, 48-35. The Tigers slowly clawed their way back into the action and cut the Bears' lead to two, 80-78, on a Troy Franklin layup with 55 seconds left in the contest. But Holmes, who scored 20 points on six of 20 shooting from the floor, countered six seconds later with a pair of free throws followed by DeWayne Jackson's three-point play for an 85-78 lead with 31 seconds left.
"I thought we got the momentum back in the second half but we missed three or four layups" said Tiger coach Pat Kennedy. "A couple popped in and popped out. Any one of those could have made it a one possession game."
The Tigers struggled at the free throw line, making only 12 of 24 attempts. They shot almost 50 per cent from the floor, going 8 of 15 from beyond the arc.
Robert Nwankwo, the leading rebounder in the Colonial Athletic Association, tallied a career high 19 points, pulled down nine boards and blocked five shots despite having his hands full with playing Thompson who ranks among the national rebounders.
Calvin Lee chipped in with 14 points and six blocks. Polk added 12 points off the bench.
Towson returns to the hardwood on December 30 when the Tigers host Mid-American Conference opponent Bowling Green in the Towson Center. Tip off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
