RALEIGH, N.C. -- Coppin State coach Fang Mitchell, who can shed a coat with the best coaches in the country, never lost his jacket or his cool last night. Neither did his Eagles as they earned a 55-54 victory over Howard in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament's play-in round at the RBC Center.
Senior Tywain McKee scored a team-high 18 points, including two free throws with 7.7 seconds left that sealed the win and sent the seventh-seeded Eagles to tonight's quarterfinals against No. 2 Hampton at 9:30. The Eagles won, 72-55, in their most recent meeting with the Pirates (18-11) on Feb. 23.
Coppin State (13-20), winner of nine of its past 10, averted the upset after a last-second offensive mistake by Howard junior Randy Hampton.
"It's all about one game and 'Can you play?' " Mitchell said of the tournament. "This thing is as much as you have confidence in yourself. You have to take care of your business and be persistent."
A three-pointer by Howard with 0.4 of a second left wasn't enough to keep the Eagles from advancing to the quarterfinals.
Howard, which fell behind 12-0 to start the game and fought back all night, had pulled within 53-51 with 1:43 left. Neither team scored for the next 90 seconds.
Tenth-seeded Howard (6-26) called a timeout with 26.4 seconds to play. Jeron Smith dribbled into the post and tossed it back to backcourt mate Hampton. But Hampton, who wasn't heavily guarded, lost control of the ball, and it sailed out of bounds. Coppin took possession with 7.7 seconds left.
McKee was fouled immediately when play resumed. He made both free throws to put his team ahead 55-51.
"In reality, the play went off the wrong way," Howard coach Gil Jackson said. "Hampton was trying to get the ball inside, and we do that out of our transition set. We put him in a situation he wasn't accustomed to."
HOWARD--Walker 2-4 0-0 4, Hampton 0-7 2-4 2, Smith 2-7 3-4 8, Myatt 4-12 3-4 12, Kirkpatrick 0-2 4-6 4, White 6-10 1-1 18, Mukole 3-5 0-0 6, Timothy 0-1 0-0 0, Cooper 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-48 13-19 54. COPPIN STATE--Miller 2-9 0-0 4, McKee 5-13 6-6 18, Conyers 3-10 0-0 7, Harrison 5-12 2-2 12, Pressey 1-3 3-5 5, Goldsberry 0-4 0-0 0, Iloegbu 2-3 0-0 5, Hayden 1-1 0-0 2, Chesnut 1-4 0-0 2, Kucinskas 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-59 11-13 55. Half--Coppin 28-27. 3-point goals--Howard 7-17 (White 5-8, Smith 1-2, Myatt 1-3, Timothy 0-1, Mukole 0-1, Hampton 0-2); Coppin 4-11 (McKee 2-4, Iloegbu 1-1, Conyers 1-3, Harrison 0-1, Goldsberry 0-1, Miller 0-1). Fouled out--Smith. Rebounds--Howard 39 (Kirkpatrick 8); Coppin 36 (Chesnut, Pressey 7). Assists--Howard 10 (Myatt, Smith 3); Coppin 7 (McKee 6). Total fouls--Howard 20; Coppin 18.