Prudential Center–In the first contest of the Invesco QQQ Legacy Classic, Morgan State (12-11 5-3 MEAC) beat Delaware State (4-17, 3-5 MEAC) 75-65 on Saturday in front of 13,451 at Prudential Center, NJ. The first seven minutes it looked like the Delaware State were going to get blown out of the arena but they eventually settled down and played hard nose basketball in the half.
Kamron Hobbs shot well from beyond the arc, converting a game-high four 3-pointers to lead all scorers with 24 points. The sophomore was one of three double-digit scorers for Morgan State, joined by Isaiah Burke, who chipped in 11 points, and by Lewis Djonkam, who almost had a double-double with 18 points and nine boards. Djonkam was also named classic MVP.
The Hornets and the Bears are meeting for the second time in eight days. Delaware State posted a dramatic 64-62 win over Morgan State on Jan. 28 in Dover, Del. Martaz Robinson scored the winning bucket with 2.4 seconds left to play. The Bears had won two straight and 11 of the previous 12 meetings between the teams before last week’s game.
Morgan State came out firing out on all cylinders, they led 10-3 at the 13:49 mark with Lewis Djonkam setting the tone around the cup, scoring two buckets. A 8-0 run by the Bears up the lead to eight (37-29) with 1:59 left to go until the half.
In the first half, the Hornets shot 47.8% (11-23) from the floor and 40.0% (4-10) from beyond the arc. Del State got sloppy with the rock turning it over fourteen times which led to easy transition points for the Bears.
Morgan State shot 36.0% (15-41) from the hardwood and 36.4% (4-11) from downtown in the first half, the Bears misses a lot open shots and got outrebounded 21-19 in that half. Hobbs was on fire in the half scoring 15 points (5-8) fm the court.
In the second half, the Hornets made a couple of runs but every time Del State trimmed the lead or got into striking distance, Hobbs would hit a shot to quiet the crowd. At the 4:41 mark Morgan State had a 10 points lead 68-58.
Del State went 8-0 run in the half and got within eight 68-60 with 4:18 to play. From that point on the the Bears sped the Hornets up and made them turn the ball over and converted the miscues into points.
Caneron Stitt scored 17 points with three assists and three boards for the Hornets. Martaz Robinson chipped in 16 points along with six rebounds.
The Hornets outrebounded the Bears 43-42 but couldn’t convert second chance opportunities in the second half.
Up Next:
Delaware State will be on home to face Chicago State on Wednesday Feb. 7th for an 7:00 P.M showdown.
Morgan State will travel to travel play North Carolina Central on Saturday Feb. 11th for a 4:00 P.M. start time.
