Morgan State men?s basketball coach Todd Bozeman had a victory cigar ready for his first win with the Bears.
The cigar dried out over the early part of the season as Morgan State limped to a 0-6 start. But the Bears picked an opportune time to play their best game of the season last Wednesday, when they held off a late rally to knock off cross-town rival Coppin State, 86-82, at home in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference opener for both schools.
Morgan State?s next game is Monday against East Carolina before the team plays at La Salle Dec. 20 and Marquette Dec. 22.
For Bozeman, the win not only represented his first as the school?s coach, but also his first win as a college coach since March 3, 1996, when his California team knocked off Stanford, 85-69. Bozeman was out of the sport for 10 years following a ban stemming from NCAA infractions while with California.
“The guys jumped on me in the locker room because they knew how much this win means to me,” Bozeman said.
The win also showed Bozeman what his team was capable of when it plays a complete game. Ronald Timus led the Bears with 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Jamar Smith had 15 points and eight rebounds and Boubacar Coly had 10 points and 11 rebounds. Five players overall scored in double figures.
Jerrel Green and Reggie Holmes also had a solid game. Green finished with a game-high 14 assists, while Holmes scored 15 of his 18 points in the second half. Morgan State needed all that scoring after it blew an 11-point lead before ending the game on a 7-0 run.
“All year, we have been battling in the first half and giving up in the second half or giving up in the first half and trying to come back in the second half,” Holmes said. “The Coppin game was the first time we played well for a whole game.”
The win hearkened memories of a bitter loss to Maryland-Baltimore County last month, when the Bears blew a nine-point first-half lead and got outscored, 24-10, over the final six minutes in a 86-72 loss.
“We lost the lead to UMBC and the guys remembered that,” Bozeman said. “We have to learn how to play when we?re ahead.”
While he wants his team to be excited about beating Coppin State, Bozeman stressed to his players after the game not to celebrate the win like a championship because there are still plenty of games left on the schedule.
“I?m trying to build a program, not a team,” Bozeman said.
MORGAN STATE NOTES
» The Bears enter this week with five players averaging at least 10 points a game.
» Ronald Timus leads the team at 14.9 points a game, while Reggie Holmes is second at 14.
» Boubacar Coly, a transfer from Xavier, is averaging a team-high 7.3 rebounds a game.
