Junior forward Cedric Blossom scored 13 points with eight rebounds, but the Morgan State Bears still lost its first Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) game of the season, falling to the Norfolk State Spartans, 85-65, on Dec. 6 at Echols Hall in Norfolk, Va. The loss dropped the Bears to 1-7 in the season following a tough non-conference schedule that included Virginia Tech last weekend.
Unfortunately for Morgan State, it started its MEAC campaign with perhaps one of the best teams in the conference – a Norfolk State (5-4 overall, 1-0 MEAC) squad that won half of its non-conference games.
Spartans junior guard Jeff Short, who averages 17 points per game this season, scored 17 points in the first half alone against the Bears Saturday, making 8-of-9 shot attempts. With Short generating problems, Morgan fell behind, 41-29 by the halftime break. Short was held to just seven points in the second half and finished with 24 points, but junior forward RaShid Gaston and junior guard D’Shon Taylor both picked up the slack for Norfolk, scoring 10 points apiece in the second half. Gaston finished with 20 points total in the game.
No player for Morgan State scored more than Blossom’s 13 points; senior guard Blake Bozeman followed with 11 points and freshman guard Jamar Redmond added 10 points for the Bears.
Next: Morgan State will next face MEAC foe Hampton University on Dec. 8 in Hampton, Va., followed by a non-conference matchup against University of California-Irvine on Dec. 16 at home at the Hill Field House in Baltimore, Md.