By Ed Hill, Jr.
WASHINGTON — Senior guard Marcus Dockery (Washington) scored 15 of his game-high 25 points and fellow D.C. native graduate guard Anwar Gill added 12 of his 14 points in the second stanza as the Howard University men’s basketball team outlasted Morgan State, 100-95, in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) showdown at Burr Gymnasium.
It marked the second straight game that the Bison have reached the century mark, defeating Delaware State in their last outing, 100-94 (Jan. 4).
Dockery led all scorers with 25 points on 9-of-15 shooting, along with four rebounds and three assists. Gill contributed 14 points and six assists in the victory.
With freshman guard Blake Harper (14 first half points) and Dockery (10 points) combining for 24 points, Howard jumped out early and bolted to a 50-33 lead at intermission. For the second straight game, the Bison shot lights out in the first 20 minutes, this time 61-percent from the floor, including 6-of-8 from beyond the arc.
Howard (7-9, 2-0 MEAC) threatened to put the game away when it opened a 19-point lead early in the second half. But the Bears, who were coming off a 100-96 double OT win over North Carolina Central Tuesday (Jan. 7), put on a 15-5 run during a seven-minute stretch.
Danile Akitoby, Kameron Hobbs and Ahmarie Simpkins combined for 48 points in the second half to bring their team back and reduce the deficit to five on four different occasions. But the resilient Bison got key plays from Dockery, Harper, graduate forward Jaren Johnson (Lynwood, Calif.) and redshirt junior forward Miles Stewart (Orlando) to hold off the hard-charging Bears. Each time, Morgan State (7-12, 1-2 MEAC) would make it a one-possession game, but one of the Bison would come up with a big play to keep the Bears at bay.
Harper finished with 23 points, along with a team-high seven rebounds and six assists.
Johnson with 10 points off the bench and a career-high five assists and Stewart contributed a career-high 13 points and two key blocked shots.
Graduate forward Cameron Shockley-Okeke (Norwalk, Conn.) tallied 11 points on 3-of-3 shooting from downtown.
The Bison finished shooting 60-percent (35-of-58), including 75-percent (9-of-12) from beyond the arc.
Howard got 27 points from its bench and got credited with 23 assists on 35 baskets.
For the Bears, Hobbs and Will Thomas each tallied 24 points while Simpkins added 20 points. Akitoby notched a double-double (17 points & 10 rebounds) in a losing effort.
NEXT UP: Howard hosts Coppin State Monday (Jan. 13) at 7:30 p.m., inside Burr Gymnasium.
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