Coppin State's home court has a shot clock, but the Eagles don't need it. The post-Larry Stewart Eagles run and run and run.
So they couldn't have picked a better opponent for their final exhibition game than the Maryland All-Stars, who beat the Eagles, 96-89, last night at Coppin Center.
"I thought this was an excellent test," said Eagles coach Fang Mitchell, who was not so happy after Coppin pounded the Burundi national team, 100-29, two weeks ago. "We learned a lot."
The Eagles have to play uptempo because they don't have the size to play four-passes-and-throw-it-inside basketball. And there was none of that last night.
The All-Stars, a team of former college players, played a 94-foot game from the opening tip. After a few sluggish minutes, the Eagles followed.
For most of the first half, the teams ran up and down the court, with neither able to put much of a run together, and Coppin went into the locker room with a 46-44 lead.
But in the second half, Coppin stopped making shots and started making turnovers, which the All-Stars converted into baskets. They pulled ahead by as many as 11 points in the last 10 minutes.