Box Score
RALEIGH, N.C. — Tywain McKee scored a game-high 26 points and scored the game's final four points from the free throw line to give No. 7 seed Coppin State a 67-65 win over No. 3 Norfolk State in a MEAC Tournament semifinal on Friday night at the RBC Center.
The Spartans' season ends at 16-15. The Eagles (15-20) move into Saturday night's tournament final against No. 1 Morgan State.
NSU staged a furious second-half rally. Trailing by eight points at halftime and by as many as 13 in the second half, the Spartans roared back behind a 3-point barrage led by Tony Murphy (Paterson, N.J.). Murphy drilled five of his six 3-pointers in the second stanza and Corey Lyons (Bronx, N.Y.) also hit one. The fourth of Murphy's long-range bombs tied the game at 50-all, and his fifth trey gave NSU a 57-53 lead with 8:46 remaining.
The Spartans led by as many as six points after a layup by Joseph Dorsett-Jeffreys (Bronx, N.Y.) with 7:38 left in the game. But NSU's last basket came just over a minute later, when Lyons hit a layup to tie the game at 63-all with 6:31 left.
The Spartans took their final lead on two free throws by Michael Deloach (Rocky Mount, N.C.) with 4:16 left. But those would be NSU's last points. The Spartans missed their final seven field goal attempts, had three turnovers and missed their final three free throw attempts in the last six minutes. NSU ended the game shooting just 41 percent (7-of-17) from the charity stripe.
McKee, meanwhile, tied the game at 65-all with two free throws with 1:32 remaining, and after a missed jumper by Murphy, hit two more to give CSU the lead for good with 57 seconds left.
Deloach missed a jumper at the other end, but NSU still had a chance when CSU's A'Daeron Duncan missed two foul shots with 37 seconds left.
Murphy missed a 3-pointer from the right wing on NSU's next possession, but Dorsett-Jeffreys got the offensive rebound and called timeout with 5.8 seconds left. NSU got the ball to Murphy on the inbounds play, but the Eagles immediately double-teamed him. Murphy tried to get a pass into the lane to Dorsett-Jeffreys, but CSU's Julian Conyers stole the ball and dribbled out the clock.
“We missed some free throws at the end,” NSU head coach Anthony Evans said. “We didn't finish the game and it came back to haunt us.”
Conyers finished with nine points and Robert Pressey had eight points and 14 rebounds for the Eagles.
Murphy's stellar college career ended with his 20-point effort on Friday. He was 7-of-16 from the floor, 6-of-12 from 3-point range. Murphy ends his career seventh on the all-time NSU scoring list, and first among Division I players, with 1,815 points.
Deloach added 15 points and six assists, Dorsett-Jeffreys had 12 points and Lyons chipped in with 10.
“I'm very proud of this team and the adversity they've overcome,” Evans added. “We set the school Division I win record this season and we've built a good foundation for the future.”
