Larry Tucker

To reach yesterday's media day at Morgan State, defensive tackle Larry Tucker packed his Chevy Malibu in Central Florida and drove 14 hours through the night, such was his excitement over an event that signals the beginning of football season. Tucker's excitement may have had something to do with the role his unit -- the defensive line -- will have in determining the success of a team that was 1-10 in 1998. "We have to go out and prove something," said Tucker, a 5-foot-11, 275-pound senior who had 34 tackles last season.

Coppin State coach Fang Mitchell always preaches the importance of defense and patience, and the Eagles showed plenty of both in last night's 54-46 victory over Delaware State at the Coppin Center. The Eagles showed why they're the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference's top defensive team and hold foes to 61.9 points a game. Coppin State (3-12, 3-3) has limited teams to 68 points or less in 14 of its 15 games. In breaking a three-game losing streak, Coppin State used mostly zone defenses to slow Delaware State (5-8, 3-2)

Would it be proper for the Battle of Baltimore Classic champion to have a distinctive New York-New Jersey flavor? That's a strong possibility when UMBC defends its title starting tonight as the local collegiate basketball season tips off in earnest at Loyola College. Coppin State and Towson open the tournament at 7 p.m.,with the UMBC-Loyola semifinal to follow at Reitz Arena. The winners will meet Monday at 7 p.m. for the title after a consolation game. Despite losing Terence Ward and Kennedy Okafor, the Retrievers have to be considered the pre-tournament favorite because of a talented roster that includes six New York players and four from New Jersey.

Combine its own recent struggles at home with a desperate Florida A&M team coming to visit, and Coppin State looked to be headed for trouble last night. That's exactly what Coppin got, as Florida A&M received 36 points from Terrence Woods - all on three-point shots - during a 73-69 overtime victory over the Eagles at the Coppin Center. Coppin led by 11 points with less than five minutes to go, but it couldn't stop the Rattlers - one of the highest-scoring teams in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference - from scoring 23 points over a 4:57 stretch to send the game into overtime.

Larry Tucker had 24 points and Donteaz Dean chipped in 19 as top-ranked Dunbar (20-2) ended regular-season play zTC yesterday with a 104-73 win over Carver, its 12th consecutive victory.The Poets play Douglass for the city championship Tuesday at Poly.No. 2 Mervo 100, No. 17 Douglass 83: Damien Jenifer and Marcus Hatten each scored 33 points and combined for 20 rebounds and 22 assists as the host Mustangs (17-4) blew past the Ducks. Mervo had season-highs in total points and three-pointers made (10)

George Evans scored 23 points to lead George Mason past Coppin State, 75-54, at the Coppin Center last night. The Patriots (3-1), sparked by a trapping defense, used an early second-half run to break open a close contest and cruise to their third straight win. Trailing 26-25, George Mason opened the second half with a 16-0 run, led by Evans and Jesse Young, who had six points each during the spurt. A dunk by Young with 13:40 left gave the Patriots a 41-26 lead. The Eagles got within 43-34 on a three-pointer by Larry Tucker, but George Mason pulled away again, taking a 56-38 lead on a dunk by Young at 7:46.

The last basketball game in its current on-campus arena is now in Coppin State's rearview mirror. Ahead is this week's Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament, but looming ever closer on the horizon is a bright, sunny vision of the future. Literally bright and sunny. What excites the Coppin folks most about the new arena rising along Gwynns Falls Parkway? "Windows," said men's assistant coach and former player Larry Tucker. It's a fairly standard amenity, one that the coaching offices in Coppin Center don't have.

Bayhawks Salisbury grad Hartzell dealt to Ohio Machine The Chesapeake Bayhawks announced that they have traded defenseman Kyle Hartzell (Salisbury) and their second-round selection (13th overall) in the 2012 Major League Lacrosse supplemental draft to the Ohio Machine. In exchange, the Bayhawks will receive the Machine's seventh-round selection (13th overall) in the 2012 expansion draft. The deal came just hours before the league's 12-man rosters were announced.

From the moment Aberdeen's Stephon Watson found out his team would be playing Milford Mill in the state playoffs, the junior had only one thing on his mind.Said Watson: "All week long, all I was thinking about was revenge, revenge, we've got to get revenge."In last night's Class 3A, North quarterfinal, Watson helped his team do just that, scoring 21 points to lead the host Eagles to a 75-61 win. The victory avenged last year's heartbreaking six-point loss to the Millers in the region championship game.

Mervo entered the final day of the second Mayor's Basketball Academy Tournament eager to earn some respect by adding to an already impressive showing -- one that included an upset of No. 2 Randallstown.Yesterday, the Mustangs may have done just that by hammering defending Class 4A state champ Southwestern, 65-41, at Coppin State University.In the decisive first period, Mervo built a 20-7 lead as Marcus Hatten scored nine of his 16 points, and Damien Jenifer netted eight of his team-high 21. From that point, the Mustangs (7-2)