The Morgan State men’s and women’s basketball teams had a fun, if nerve-wracking trip to Dover, Delaware on Saturday.
Alabama A&M transfer Kailyn Nash‘s loose-ball jumper as time expired gave the Morgan women a 61-59 victory over Delaware State’s women while the Bear men held off the Hornets 80-79.
In the women’s game, Morgan State (3-17, 2-2 MEAC) led 51-38 going into the fourth quarter, but the Hornets rallied behind sophomore forward Ericka Huggins’ career-high 28 points, including a driving layup with 13 seconds left to tie the game at 59.
Morgan held for the last shot and after Mihjae Hayes’ missed floated bounced around the lane, Nash picked the ball up and fired towards the rim. The ball bounced on the front of the rim and fell in as the buzzer sounded. Hayes and Ja’la Bannerman led the Bears with 12 points each and Nash added 11.
The Delaware State women (3-16, 0-4 MEAC) have lost 11 straight games and have not beaten a Division I opponent this season.
The men’s game followed a similar format as Morgan State (5-13, 2-2 MEAC) led 59-45 after a Walter Peggs, Jr. jumper with 12:37 to go in regulation. Peggs led all scorers with 29 points off the bench for MSU.
The Hornets (5-14, 0-4 MEAC) fought back to eventually tie the game at 75 on a pair of Ponce James (team-high 22 points) free throws with 55 seconds left.
Two Elijah Davis free throws gave Morgan State a 77-75 lead and after James missed a tying layup, the Bears made three more foul shots to steal the win. It was the third home heartbreaker for Delaware State since MEAC play began. They lost their conference opener 53-51 to Coppin State on Jan. 3, then 66-64 to Norfolk State on Jan. 10.
