The Morgan State men’s basketball team came up just short of securing a spot in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) championship game, falling 58-55 to the top-seeded Norfolk State University Spartans at the Norfolk Scope Arena on Friday evening.
The Bears had two chances to potentially force overtime in the final 30 seconds of the semi-final game. Still, they could not capitalize in the final moments, effectively ending their 2024-25 campaign in heartbreaking fashion.
“You got to go through the champions to be a champion. We checked one box yesterday and we couldn’t check the box tonight,” said head coach Kevin Broadus. “We played hard, we played smart, and we played together tonight, we just could not get over the wall.”
After taking a 28-25 lead into the half, the Bears looked poised for a championship game berth but the Spartans would quickly rally early in the second half, growing a seven-point cushion with four minutes remaining, igniting the Norfolk crowd.
Despite trailing in the final minutes, the Bears still managed to claw their way back into the back-and-forth contest. Junior guard Rob Lawson provided a late spark, converting a three-point play that cut the deficit to just three points and making it a one-possession game.
Known for their high-powered offense, the Bears managed to stifle the top-seeded Spartans, holding them to just 40% shooting from the field, a mere 25% from beyond the arc, and 69.2% from the free-throw line—all well below their season averages.
“If you would’ve told me that was what they would have shot tonight I would have told you we were going to win the game,” Broadus said.
With less than a minute remaining, the Spartans came up with a critical defensive stop, but a missed free throw by Norfolk State’s graduate guard Brian Moore Jr. gave the Bears one last opportunity to tie the game.
Redshirt senior Kameron Hobbs, coming off a stellar 33-point performance against Howard, had a chance to force overtime with 7.6 seconds remaining. However, his three-point attempt in the final seconds fell short, sealing the Bears’ fate and bringing their season to a heartbreaking end.
“If I could rescript the last 30 seconds, he would have took every shot he took. I’m second-guessing none of the shots he took. He (Hobbs) got us here,” Broadus said.
Despite coming into this game with seven injured players, coach Broadus pointed out his team’s resilience and acknowledged the contributions of players who are not typically part of the regular rotation.
“I was playing to win tonight—and I thought these guys who played a lot of minutes stepped up in different ways—it may not have shown up in the box score but they did things that we see as coaches,” said Broadus.
