Box Score BALTIMORE, Md. – Morgan State found the home rims to be much in its favor on Wednesday night, as the Bears handed the Norfolk State men's basketball team an 89-72 loss at the Talmadge Hill Field House.
 
Morgan State shot nearly 55 percent for the game, including 60 percent from 3-point range. The Spartans hit a respectable 40 percent overall but only 2-of-18 from deep. The loss dropped NSU's record to 10-4 in the MEAC as well as 14-15 overall. The Spartans still sit in third place in the league but are now just one game ahead in the loss column to fourth-place Bethune-Cookman.
 
Senior D'Shon Taylor connected on 8-of-16 from the field and finished with game highs of 20 points and 10 rebounds against MSU. He also added a career-high tying four steals and three assists. He sank one of the team's season-low tying two treys on the evening and posted his third double-double of the year.
 
The Bears, though, made exactly 60 percent from 3-point range on 9-of-15 shooting. It was part of an overall 29-of-53 shooting night for MSU (54.7 percent). The win improved its record to 7-20 overall and 5-9 in the MEAC.
 
NSU sank 25-of-62 (40.3 percent) overall, including 52 percent from inside the 3-point line. In the two games against Morgan State this year, the Spartans have shot just 5-of-41 from 3-point range.
 
The Spartans only led in the game after the first bucket and faced a 14-point deficit at the half. They picked up their scoring in the second, thanks in part to plenty of more opportunities at the free throw line. The same went for the Bears, who also connected on nearly 60 percent of their field goals after intermission.
 
Turnovers killed NSU in the early going when the Spartans fell behind by a 15-6 score. A total of 11 of those points for MSU came from the hands of Andre Horne, who finished the game 7-of-11 overall and 4-of-6 from 3-point range for a team-high 18 points.
 
After senior Charles Oliver's 3-point play, the Bears scored twice in a row for a 10-point advantage. The lead reached 29-15 after MSU hit its fifth 3-pointer of the half, this one from Kyle Thomas at the 7:38 mark. The Spartans tallied the next six points to get the deficit back to single digits, but Morgan State used a 10-2 run for a 39-23 advantage with three and a half minutes left before intermission.
 
Thomas made another 3-pointer with 21 seconds left to give Morgan State a 42-28 lead at the half. NSU had 10 turnovers in the first stanza, while MSU shot nearly 52 percent from the field, including 6-of-10 from 3-point range.
 
The Bears outscored the Spartans 16-6 to start the second half, stretching the lead to 24 seven minutes into the stanza. NSU got as close as 14 with four minutes left when Taylor got a putback layup off a free throw miss. The game slowed to a crawl thanks to a combined 43 free throw attempts in the second half, but the Spartans never got closer than 14.
 
Along with Horne, Rasean Simpson also scored 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting while falling just short of a double-double with nine boards. Thomas (16 points, 6-of-10 shooting) and Donte Pretlow (13 points, 4-of-6 shooting, five assists) also reached double figures for MSU.
 
Senior Jeff Short scored 13 points thanks in part to a 7-of-10 effort from the free throw line with four assists, three rebounds and two steals. That offset a 3-of-15 night from the floor, including 0-of-9 from 3-point range. It broke a streak of 18 straight games with at least one trey.
 
Oliver added 12 points, and junior Jonathan Wade tallied 10 points, a career-high seven rebounds and two steals off the bench as well. NSU had eight swipes to just two for MSU. Both teams had 16 turnovers, with many of NSU's coming via the travel.
 
The Bears made 22-of-26 from the charity stripe, while NSU countered by making 20-of-27, with all but six of those attempts coming in the second half.
 
Thanks in part to a 17-7 edge on the offensive glass, NSU outscored Morgan State 20-11 in second chance points.
 
NSU will get Saturday off from competition and then return to the court next Monday at home against Howard at 8 p.m. It will mark the first of two games to close out the regular season, both at Joseph Echols Hall.