In a grueling battle of defenses, Morgan State took advantage of Towson's poor second-half shooting and won the consolation game of the Battle of Baltimore last night at UMBC, 59-56.
The Bears (1-1) took the lead for good at 38-37 on a difficult left-handed conversion by Curtis King on an alley-oop basket, widened the margin to as many as nine, then fended off the Tigers to beat them for the first time since 1979.
Two free throws by backup point guard Cedric Barrow put the game on ice with 7.9 seconds remaining after Towson had missed two shots attempting to take the lead.
"I'm glad we had to play this kind of game this early in the year," said Morgan coach Chris Fuller. "We're going to be in a lot of them. Both sides played really good defense. Our zone gave them a different look, but they didn't knock down some shots."
The Tigers went 8-for-30 from the field in the second half, committed 21 turnovers, including 11 by young point guards Brian Allen and Tamir Goodman, and never got their attack in rhythm.
Morgan point guard Anton Jenifer controlled the tempo of the game before fouling out with 1:15 left at his offensive end of the floor. Jenifer finished with 20 points, including 10 of 11 from the foul line, and hit the two free throws that gave his team its biggest edge at 55-46.
Unable to capitalize on its fortune or its late rally, Towson had one final shot to tie, but Shaun Holtz's three-point try bounded away and was up for grabs when the final buzzer sounded.
"We've got to find a way to stop throwing the ball all over the place," said Tigers coach Mike Jaskulski. "The basketball needs to be in Brian Barber's hands rather than playing offense mindlessly. We have to make simple plays instead of trying to make a highlight film. That's the sign of an immature team."
Barber attempted just 10 shots and amassed 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Allen led the squad with 19 points.
Towson was also hurt by the inability of Marijan Spalevic, its best long-range shooter, to find the basket. He went 0-for-5 from beyond the arc.
MORGAN STATE - King 3-7 2-2 8, Canady 2-5 1-2 5, Winkfield 2-9 1-2 6, Jenifer 5-13 10-11 20, Sims 2-4 0-1 4, Barrow 0-0 2-2 2, McNeil 0-1 0-0 0, Reece 1-3 0-1 2, Dukes 4-11 0-1 8, Patrick 1-3 0-0 2, Lee 0-3 2-2 2.
Totals 20-59 18-24 59.
TOWSON - Barber 6-10 2-2 14, Augustus 0-1 0-0 0, Shin 0-1 0-0 0, Allen 6-10 3-4 19, Sutton 4-11 2-5 10, Spalevic 0-6 0-0 0, Weatherspoon 1-4 2-4 4, Goodman 0-0 0-2 0, Holtz 2-9 4-4 9. Totals 19-53 13-21 56.
Halftime-Towson 32, Morgan State 26. 3-point goals-Morgan State 1-9 (Winkfield 1-5, Jenifer 0-1, Dukes 0-3). Towson 5-20 ( Allen 4-7, Sutton 0-2, Spalevic 0-5, Weatherspoon 0-2, Holtz 1-4). Rebounds-Morgan State 44 (Canady 11), Towson 35 (Holtz 10). Assists-Morgan State 7 (Jenifer 3), Towson 10 (Sutton 6). Fouled out-King, Jenifer, Allen. Technical fouls-Morgan State bench. A-325.
