Senior guard Justin Black scored a team-high 24 points, including 17 in the second half, but the Morgan State University Bears still fell to the California State at Northridge Matadors, 86-80, on Dec. 27 at the Matadome in Northridge, Calif.
Morgan State trailed by just three points with a little more than a minute left in the game, thanks to a 7-0 scoring run ignited by a clutch 3-pointer from Black. But the Matadors managed to hold off the Bears by making their free throws in the final seconds of the game.
Junior forward Stephen Maxwell and senior guard Josh Greene both scored 28 points each for the Matadors. Maxwell also recorded 12 rebounds and Matador senior guard Stephan Hicks added his own double-double of 10 points with 11 rebounds.
Senior center Ian Chiles followed Black with 19 points for Morgan State, while Bears junior guard Blake Bozeman made five 3-pointers for 15 points.
The Bears’ loss to the Matadors was its first in the last three games and dropped the Bears’ record to 3-8 overall. Morgan State will next face No. 12 Oregon on Dec. 29 in Eugene, Oregon, and then University of California-Irvine on Jan. 2.
