On Nov. 11, Morgan State men’s basketball coughed up a late 77-71 lead to UMBC and eventually lost on a 3-pointer with one second left to play.
On Nov. 18, Morgan State was again locked in a tight battle at Hill Field House, this time against North Carolina A&T. The Aggies led for most of the game, but the Bears took a 73-72 lead with 2:06 to play. However, A&T scored the final seven points of the contest to win, 79-73.
The loss leaves Morgan at 1-4 to start the season with tests to come at Old Dominion on Nov. 21 and against Drexel on Nov. 25 as the Bears search for ways to reach the finish line in crunch time of close games.
“That’s what we’re trying to figure out. If I had the answer, it would’ve been done,” Morgan head coach Kevin Broadus said. “You want to win every game. Before the season starts, everyone thinks they can go undefeated. That’s not going to happen. … I always like to tell them, ‘This is a process. Life’s a process.’ But people don’t tell you the process is complicated, and it’s complicated. Now we’ve got to fight and figure out how to win tight games like this.”
A&T redshirt freshman guard Lewis Walker hit 3-pointer with 1:39 to play to give the Aggies a 75-73 lead. About a minute later, Walker attempted another 3-pointer to try to put the game away and missed, but the rebound came right back to him. The shot clock reset to 20 after Walker collected his miss. The ball found its way to freshman guard Brooklyn Vick, who was fouled by Bears junior forward Eugene Alvin as a way to stop the clock.
Alvin fouled Vick with about 34 seconds left in the game and 14 seconds left on the shot clock. Broadus wanted to play defense to try to get the ball back down just two, but Alvin thought his coach wanted to foul.
“Like I told the team, not one play lost that game,” Broadus said. “Everybody’s yelling and screaming at Gene at the end. That didn’t lose the game. Let me tell you what lost the game — 40-24 on the glass and giving up 52 percent from the field. That lost the game.”
Broadus wasn’t pleased with how his team reacted to the foul and falling behind 77-73 with 34 seconds left and 79-73 with 14 seconds left.
“When that happened, the whole team got out of character — coaches included, and I got on the coaches. I’m telling everybody, ‘Calm down,'” Broadus said. “… The game is played to double zeroes, and I think that’s what we’ve got to learn to do, and that’s how you win close games.”
However, it does appear that the Bears have found a player who’s going to help them win tight games in graduate guard Elijah Davis. Morgan is the fifth school in five years for Davis, who has also played at Mississippi Valley State, Walters State Community College, Incarnate Word and Bowie State.
Davis is averaging 12.4 points and 4.8 assists in five contests as the Bears’ point guard, showing a knack for getting to the rim and free throw line late in games. The 6-foot-1, 175-point guard out of Saint Frances poured in 21 points and dished out seven assists against A&T.
“Grit, toughness, intelligence, he’s brought a lot to this team — leadership,” Broadus said. “He is a born leader. As he goes, we go.”
DEFENSE ALREADY ON POINT FOR TOWSON
Towson men’s basketball has always been about defense, rebounding and toughness under head coach Pat Skerry … and it sure looks like the 2025-26 season will be no different.
Towson defeated MEAC preseason favorite Norfolk State, 51-41, on Nov. 14 on the strength of its defense. The Tigers held the Spartans to 27.7 percent shooting from the field for the game while posting eight blocks and five steals. Towson was at its best in the second half, when it held Norfolk State to 15 points on 22.6 percent shooting.
The Tigers held the Spartans scoreless for a little more than seven minutes late in the second half as Towson took control of the game with its disciplined man-to-man defense.
“We’ve got some guys who really believe in our defense,” Skerry said. “We’re not very tricky on that end of the floor, but it’s what we believe in.”
Skerry and redshirt junior point guard Dylan Williamson said the Tigers’ performance at No. 2 Houston on Nov. 8, when they held the Cougars to 65 points on 41.9 percent shooting, helped set the tone for the season. However, Towson took a step back when it allowed 81 points on 56.5 percent shooting from the field in a loss at James Madison on Nov. 18.
The Tigers will look to get back on track against Rhode Island on Nov. 24.
“Playing against Houston, holding to them to that low percentage, that’s just the standard from now on,” Williamson said.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of MSU Athletics