By Keith Henry
NORFOLK- When Morgan State head coach Kevin Broadus wrote on
the whiteboard that his team will ‘Win by any means necessary,’ he might’ve cited
the last three minutes of this wild MEAC Quarterfinal match-up with defending
champion Howard at The Scope.
“It’s no tomorrow,” says Coach Broadus. “(Well) now it is a
tomorrow. The moral of the story is don’t save yourself. Don’t play timid. Don’t
play soft. Leave it out there on the court.”
Kameron Hobbs’ drive to the hoop resulted in the go-ahead basket
with 9.2 seconds left which provided the difference in the fifth-seeded Bears’
91-90 victory over the fourth-seeded Bison this evening.
Morgan State seemed to have this game well in hand with 2:52
remaining in regulation and they were ahead 86-71.
However, Howard started trapping the Bears and forced multiple
turnovers more than they realized. Before they or the Bear faithful wondered which
Mack truck just ran them over, Howard forged ahead 90-89 on a three-point shot
from Howard’s Cameron Shockey-Okeke with 16.1 seconds left. That shot ignited the
reasonably quiet Bison crowd and gave them serious hope to survive and advance.
But after a Bears’ timeout, they immediately rolled off the
canvas and responded with Hobbs’ fateful drive to the hoop with 9.2 seconds
left. Hobbs had quite a night, leading
all scorers with 33 points.
Howard attempted to respond with their last offensive
possession. However, the Bears’ defense denied Jaren Johnson’s buzzer beating lay-up
attempt and Morgan State has moved on to tomorrow evening’s semifinal match vs.
top-seeded Norfolk State which will take place at 6 pm.
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