The Morgan State University Bears men’s basketball squad saw their three-game winning streak snapped after a tough 68-62 loss to the North Carolina Central University Eagles on Feb. 4 at the Hill Field House in Baltimore.
Entering the game, Morgan State had knocked off S.C. State on Jan. 23, Coppin State on Jan. 28 and Florida A&M University on Jan. 30.
The matchup was a showdown of two teams sharing first-place in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC); both entered with a 7-1 MEAC record. But the Eagles found a way to edge out Morgan State to claim sole ownership of the conference.
Morgan State struggled to deal with what some might consider a good problem to have: too much talent. The Bears have two excellent scorers in junior forward Phillip Carr and junior guard Tiwian Kendley, but neither has much experience playing with each other. Carr has been a leading scorer for Morgan State with 18.6 points per game, but has also missed games due to injuries, allowing Kendley to emerge as the team’s primary scorer with 22.5 points per game. Now that Carr is healthy, the two have to find a scoring rhythm together on the court. They scored just 23 points combined in the loss to N.C. Central.
“We have to get used to Kendley and Carr playing together, again. I knew that was going to be a challenge,” Bears head coach Todd Bozeman said, according to MSU Athletics Communications. “It is what it is. I’d rather have them back than not to have them back. So it just happens to fail this time. We just have to go back and work. These guys are going to be much better and they’ll grow from it.”
Next: Kendley and Carr will get another chance to practice playing together on Feb. 11, when the Bears take on Delaware State University in a home game at the Hill Field House. Tip-off is at 4 p.m.
