NORFOLK, Va. – Bethune-Cookman
earned a rematch with Norfolk State Tuesday night with an 89-78 victory over
Coppin State in the opening round of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
Tournament at The Scope.
Adrien Coleman scored 28 points, Kevin Dukes a season-high
22 and Javoris Bryant a career-high 19 as the eighth-seeded Wildcats (13-19)
snapped a three-game skid and set the stage for a Wednesday quarterfinal with the
top-seeded Spartans, who defeated B-CU 73-70
in last year's championship game.
Norfolk State went unbeaten in league play, including a
narrow 62-61 victory over the Wildcats on March 2. The teams will meet
Wednesday evening at 6 p.m.
“It'll be us against the city of Norfolk,” commented B-CU
Head Coach Gravelle Craig. “Facing Norfolk State will be a challenge, but that's
why you play the game.”
The Wildcats lost to Coppin State (8-24) five days ago in
Baltimore, but used a 25-5 run to start the second half to take a 57-38 lead on
a Coleman three-point play with 11:08 left.
“We knew this would be a tough game,” Craig said. “Coppin
State is a good team driving to the basket and shooting three-pointers. They
give you problems. We did a good job of keeping them in front of us and making them
take tough shots.”
The Eagles, behind a 25-point outburst from Taariq Cephas
and 17 points from Andre Armstrong, cut the lead to three points twice, the
last at 75-72 on two Patrick Cole free throws with 2:25 left.
Two Bryant lay-ups and two Marc Mack free throws helped B-CU
push its lead to 81-72 with 1:20 to play, and then Coleman scored six points in
the final minute to keep the Eagles at bay.
“We knew they would make a run,” Craig said. “We just had to
keep our composure and execute down the stretch.”
Coleman, who led the MEAC in scoring this season, posted his
11th 20-point game of the season and flirted with a triple-double,
finishing with nine rebounds and seven assists.
Bryant had 10 rebounds and posted his third consecutive double-double.
He's reached double figures six times in the last seven March games he's played
the last two years, four of those in the MEAC Tournament.
“I'm feeling healthy,” Bryant said. “Dukes and I and the
other seniors realize these are our last games in front of us and we're playing
with a certain passion. We want to extend the season.”
Dukes hit five three-pointers as he and
Coleman gave B-CU two players with 20 points in a game for the first time since
C.J. Reed (26) and Garrius Holloman (23) did it against Florida Christian on
December 1, 2010.
“My team was behind me telling me to shoot the ball,” Dukes
said. “I was able to get some open looks.”
Coppin State, which had won all four of the previous MEAC Tournament
meetings with B-CU, erased an early 24-16 deficit to take a 33-32 halftime
lead.
“It was a back and forth, up and down battle,” said Coppin State
coach Ron “Fang” Mitchell. “We talked about coming out with more energy at
halftime, but we made mistakes and there were too many. You'll have problems in
all aspects of the game if you don't rebound [B-CU outrebounded Coppin State
40-27] and give up that many points [50] in the paint.”
Mack finished with eight points and six rebounds for B-CU,
while Alex Smith had five points and seven rebounds and Ricky Johnson a career-high eight
assists.
