Men's Basketball

Poor Start Dooms Howard In Loss to Morgan State

Washington, DC-January 29-Howard played a spirited second half after falling behind, but a woeful 19 percent shooting performance in the first half that resulted in only 17 points was too much to overcome as the Bison fell, 66-53 to Morgan State in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference men's game at Burr Gymnasium.

            Howard (7-14 overall, 3-6 in the MEAC) missed 17 of its first 21 shots from the field and trailed 37-17 at the break.  The Bears (8-11 overall, 6-3 in the MEAC) came out very aggressive and used a dominant effort on the boards to control the game.

            "We ran into a team that was playing well," said Howard Coach Gil Jackson of Morgan State, which has won four straight.  "They have a bunch of juniors and seniors and they just played better than us. They came out with a lot of intensity and we couldn't match it."

            Morgan State held a big advantage in rebounding, including a 12-1 edge on the offensive glass.  The Bears also recorded 10 assists on 15 baskets.

            "We needed to have the young players make some plays," added Jackson.  "Our older players got impatient and they started forcing some things.  If we had only one assist in the first half, we're in trouble."

            The Bison fared much better in the second half, at one point cutting the deficit to 11, but Morgan State got key baskets from Joseph McLean (14 points), Ronald Timus (15 points) and reserve Jamar Smith (11 points) that held off Howard and secured the win.

            Darryl Hudson of Howard led all scorers with 20 points while senior guard Will Gant contributed 12.  No other Bison reached double figures.

            "Everybody has to contribute," said Hudson.  "It can't be just one or two players scoring.  We are effective in this system when everyone contributes.  It comes down to execution and we just have not been doing it."

            The Bison will try to snap their four-game skid when they host South Carolina State on Saturday at 4 pm in Burr Gymnasium.

GAME NOTES: Gant's basket at the 4:18 mark of the second half was the 1,000^th point of his career...he becomes the 16^th player in school history to reach that mark...Hudson, who is having an all-conference season, has now scored in double figures in 29 of the last 31 games in which he has played.

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Gil Jackson