The last time Morgan State saw Roy Bright, he personally escorted the Bears out of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament semifinals. Bright's 30-point performance last March snuffed out the Bears' late-season run to respectability.
Last night, the Bears settled that score against Delaware State, even if they didn't exactly stop Bright.
Morgan's 64-59 victory over the Hornets at Hill Field House started as a blowout and finished as a white-knuckle thriller. Bright scored 20 of his game-high 23 points in the second half, when Delaware State came back from a 14-point deficit to force two ties in the final five minutes.
The Bears (13-8, 8-1) overcame a scoreless drought of 8:13 and a stretch of almost 11 minutes without a field goal to secure their grip on first place in the conference.
The victory was the sixth straight for the Bears. The last time they had a streak like that was 29 years ago when the 1978-79 team started 6-0. Morgan is 7-0 at home this season.
It took a bank shot by Marquise Kately (17 points, 7-for-14 from the field) to break the final tie at 56 and four free throws, two each by Reggie Holmes and Jamar Smith, to subdue the Hornets (8-12, 5-3). Before Holmes and Smith made the final four free throws, the Bears had gone 2-for-7 at the line.
"It was a tremendous win for us and for the program," Morgan coach Todd Bozeman said, "because of what Delaware State has done. It's a step in the right direction."
Said Kately, "I was determined to create [a shot for someone else] or make a shot."
Bright was held scoreless until the final two minutes of the first half, when he made a field goal and foul shot. Then, in a less-than-three-minute span of the second half, he erupted for four field goals and 10 points to get Delaware State back in the game.
When Bright finished his personal run with a layup, Bozeman used a 30-second timeout to lecture his defenders.
"I told them he was going to come at you in the second half," Bozeman said. "He's patient."
ken.murray@baltsun.com
DELAWARE STATE.-Dickens 0-2 2-2 2, Parkes 2-3 0-0 4, Neal 0-4 4-8 4, D.Johnson 2-5 0-0 6, Bright 8-24 6-7 23, Welcher 1-1 0-0 2, Sandidge 5-7 5-6 15, White 1-1 1-2 3. Totals 19-47 18-25 59. MORGAN STATE-Johnson 2-2 0-0 4, Kately 7-14 2-3 17, Coly 2-6 2-5 6, Green 0-3 1-3 1, Smith 8-12 3-3 20, Bolden 2-4 0-0 5, Holmes 1-9 3-4 6, Barnes 1-1 0-0 3, Stokes 0-0 0-0 0, Hemsley 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 24-52 11-18 64. Half-Morgan State 34-22. 3-point goals-Delaware State 3-11 (D.Johnson 2-3, Bright 1-7, Neal 0-1), Morgan State 5-13 (Barnes 1-1, Bolden 1-1, Kately 1-2, Smith 1-2, Holmes 1-5, Green 0-2). Fouled out-Holmes, Sandidge. Rebounds-Delaware State. 24 (Bright, Sandidge 5), Morgan State 39 (Coly 12). Assists-Delaware State 9 (Neal 3), Morgan State 11 (Green 9). Total fouls-Delaware State 16, Morgan State 20. A-3,409.