Winless Morgan State came to Hill Field House last night without point guard Anthony Williams, center Nile Patrick and shooting guard Randy Dukes, its only player averaging double figures in scoring.
Facing cross-town rival Towson, however, the Bears found a potent new weapon, sharpshooter Sam Brand.
The UMBC transfer, playing in his first basketball game at Morgan, scored a game-high 19 points, hitting five of 11 three-pointers to lead the Bears to a 62-59 victory in a game rescheduled from Dec. 5.
"He's a shooter," Morgan coach Butch Beard said. "He ended up being the man."
Facing a Towson team that it lost to by 14 in the season-opening Battle of Baltimore, the Bears (1-7) relied on Brand and guard Cedrick Barrow (14 points) to shoot over the Tigers' zone. That helped create inside scoring chances for forwards Douglas Sims and Aaron Andrews (10 points each).
Leading by a point, Morgan extended its lead on Sims' 15-footer with 48 seconds left. He then scored on a breakaway off the in-bounds pass with 16 seconds left to seal the win.
On a night in which the Bears got their first win, however, it was Brand who played the starring role.
A former standout at Poly, Brand attended UMBC as a freshman but left when he said "it just didn't work out with the coach."
While playing in a YMCA league in Towson, he was rediscovered by Bears assistant coach Lamont Pennick, who told him that he would have the opportunity to earn a spot on the Morgan roster. After sitting out the fall semester, the sophomore finally got his chance.
"I've been waiting so long for this," Brand said. "I was just on a high. I couldn't wait to get out there."
With the absences of Williams (suspension), Patrick (high-ankle sprain) and Dukes (a death in family), Brand scored 10 in the first half as the Bears built a 27-17 lead against the turnover-prone Tigers.
"We discussed him, but our guys just didn't do a good job of taking his shots away," said Towson coach Michael Hunt.
Towson (3-4), which set a school record by hitting 13 of 13 free throws, kept it close behind the perimeter shooting of point guard Jamaal Gilchrist (17 points). The Tigers cut an eight-point deficit to one on Tony Dixon's dunk with 1:18 left.
TOWSON-Allen 3-11 2-2 9, Dixon 4-6 6-7 14, Hamm 0-2 0-0 0, McCartney 1-1 2-2 4, Gilchrist 5-10 3-3 17, Petkunas 1-4 0-0 2, McSweeney 2-5 0-0 5, Goode 1-3 0-0 2, Warner 3-6 0-0 6. Totals 20-48 13-13 59. MORGAN STATE-Barrow 5-13 3-4 14, Sims 5-10 0-0 10, Snipes 0-3 1-2 1, Grandy 0-1 0-1 0, Andrews 5-7 0-0 10, Timus 1-5 6-8 8, Davis 0-1 0-0 0, Brand 6-16 2-2 19, Kilpatrick 0-0 0-0 0, Pellerin 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-57 12-17 62. Half: Morgan State, 35-30. 3-point goals: T 6-19 (Gilchrist 4-8, McSweeney 1-4, Allen 1-6, Petkunas 0-1); MS 6-18 (Brand 5-11, Barrow 1-5, Grandy 0-1, Snipes 0-1). Rebounds: T 30 (Dixon 7); MS 35 (Timus 7). Assists: T 3 (Allen 2); MS 10 (Sims 3). Total fouls: T 17, MS 14. Fouled out: Hamm, Andrews. A: n/a.