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Down 39-30 to Florida A&M at the half, Morgan State stormed back to take a 12-point second half lead and then held on late for a 77-75 quarterfinal win at the Mid Eastern Athletic Conference Basketball tournament at the Norfolk Scope Arena.
Six-four junior transfer guard De’Torrian Ware had a game-high 35 points, 21 in the second half as the Bears (13-7) outscored the Rattlers 16-5 to open the period, taking a 46-44 lead on a layup by Tahj Malik Campbell with 14:46 to play.
The lead grew to as much as 12 at 63-51 on Malik Miller’s two free throws at the 7:46 mark before FAMU fought back.
Employing a zone press, the Rattlers (8-12), the tourney’s 2nd seed from the South Division, slowly clawed their way back pulling to within 76-75 on two made free throws by Jalen Speer with only :09 seconds left. MSU’s Sherwyn Devonish canned a free throw with :06 left before D. J. Jones 3-pointer at the final buzzer was long.
Ware was the only MSU player to score in double digits. He finished 10 of 17 from the floor including hitting on 7 of 11 from behind the arc. Ware also canned 8 of 11 from the charity stripe. Devonish was next with nine points.
Conversely, FAMU had four players in double figures led by 18 from Speer and 17 from M. J. Randolph.
Morgan State (13-7), the North Division’s third-seed, advances to face crosstown Baltimore rival and top N. Div. seed Coppin State in Friday’s 6 p.m. semifinal.
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