MEAC Tournament

The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (“MEAC”) is holding its men’s 2010 MEAC Basketball Tournament March 9-13, 2010. Although Winston-Salem State Univ. is stepping down from the conference (to return to Division II), it will be hosting the tournament at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The championship game will be broadcast live on ESPN2 at 2:00p.m. (ET), and the winner will receive the MEAC automatic berth in the 2010 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. http://www.meacsports.com//pdf8/673707.pdf?DB_OEM_ID=20800

The Morgan State University Bears are the top seed in the tournament, having won the regular season title. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/conferences/standings?confID=16 They also have the conference’s highest RPI computer rating (#115 as of Feb. 21) Morgan State is defending its conference tournament crown from last year. http://www.meacsports.com//pdf8/673707.pdf?DB_OEM_ID=20800

Morgan State breezed through the 2009 MEAC Tournament to claim the conference's automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament (where they lost to No. 2 seed Oklahoma Sooners). http://www.meacsports.com//pdf4/667071.pdf?DB_OEM_ID=20800

Coppin State was the 2008 MEAC Tournament champion. They defeated the Howard Bison in the first round 55-54, the Hampton Pirates in the Quarterfinals in overtime 75-74, and defeated Norfolk State Spartans in the Semifinals 67-65 before facing the Morgan State Bears in the Championships.

Eagles Tywaine McKee was the top performer in the MEAC Championship. He scored a 33 points hitting 12 of 20 in the field with 6 of 8 beyond the arc. McKee scored a crucial five-foot floater with three seconds left to have the lead 62-60 over the Morgan State at the RBC Center.

It was an exciting double-header of MEAC basketball on Friday, and the championship game was set. First, regular season champ Morgan State had all they could handle from #5 seed Hampton, before prevailing, 74-67. The Hampton Pirates tied the game up with 2:25 to play, but the Bears scored 5 straight and tightened the defensive clamps. Hampton ends the season 14-18.

In the second game, the second and third seeds went to overtime to determine who would face Morgan State in the finals. #3 South Carolina State was led by Jason Flagler (19 points, 8 rebounds) and the Bulldogs defeated #2 Delaware State 70-66(OT).

3rd seed South Carolina State defeated 6th seed Maryland-E. Shore, 59-53, needing to score their last 7 points from the free throw line to overcome the UMES Hawks. The Bulldogs will face #2 seed Delaware State in the semifinals on Friday.

In the final game of the day, #5 Hampton squeaked by #4 Norfolk State, 73-70. Each team had one good run, but traded baskets and leads for most of the high-intensity game. Hampton now has to face #1 Morgan State in Friday's other semifinal.

There were no surprises on the second day of the Mens' MEAC Tournament, as the higher-seeded team won all three games.

First up was the last game of the opening round. #11 Coppin State - which is leaving the conference and going back to Division II at the end of this academic year - put up a good game against #6 Maryland-E. Shore, but ended up losing, 64-58.

Then, the top two seeds played their first games of the conference tournament. Defending champion Morgan State crushed #8 North Carolina A&T, 84-57, and #2 Delaware State and #7 Bethune-Cookman thrilled those who stayed for the nightcap, with DE St. eking out a 57-55 victory.

1. 6 Maryland E. Shore 64, #11 Coppin State 58
2. 1 Morgan State 84, #9 North Carolina A&T 57
3. 2 Delaware State 57, #7 Bethune-Cookman 55

The tournament got started on Tuesday with two of the three opening round games between the bottom six seeds. In the first game, #7 Bethune-Cookman defeated #10 Florida A&M, 64-53. In the final game of the day, #9 North Carolina A&T prevailed over #8 Howard, 65-55.

The final opening round game and two of the quarter final matchups will begin on Wednesday at 3:00pm (Eastern). Here's the schedule: 3:00PM Game 8 - Men

1. 11 Coppin State vs #6 Maryland E. Shore

7:00PM Game 9 - Men

1. 9 North Carolina A&T vs #1 Morgan State

9:30PM Game 10 - Men

1. 7 Bethune-Cookman vs #2 Delaware State

Morgan State successfully defended last year's conference championship and defeated #3 seed South Carolina State, 68-61. The Bears were led by sophomore Kevin Thompson's 18 points and 10 rebounds; he was named tourney MVP. Conference player of the year Reggie Holmes added 17 points.

The Bears (27-9) are headed to the NCAA tournament for the 2nd consecutive year, the first team to do that from the MEAC since Hampton went in 2001 and 2002. Coach Todd Bozeman was named conference coach of the year for the 3rd season in a row, and is leading his fifth team (3 from Cal, 2 from Morgan St.) to the NCAA's.

Khalif Toombs led the South Carolina State Bulldogs (18-14) with 15 points.

The game was televised on ESPN2; for highlights, please visit: http://espn.go.com/video/clip?categoryId=2459792&id=4992792

• 2009: Morgan State
• 2008: Coppin State Official site: MEAC Championships
• 2007: Florida A&M Official site: MEAC Championships
• 2006: Hampton Official site: MEAC Championships
• 2005: Delaware State Official site: MEAC Championships
• 2004: Florida A&M Official site: MEAC Championships
• 2003: South Carolina State Official site: MEAC Championships
• 2002: Hampton Official site: MEAC Championships
• 2001: Hampton Official site: MEAC Championships
• 2000: South Carolina State Official site: MEAC Championships
• 1999: Florida A&M Official site: MEAC Championships
• 1998: South Carolina State Official site: MEAC Championships
• 1997: Coppin State Official site: MEAC Championships
• 1996: South Carolina State Official site: MEAC Championships
• 1995: North Carolina A&T Official site: MEAC Championships
• 1994: North Carolina A&T Official site: MEAC Championships
• 1993: Coppin State Official site: MEAC Championships
• 1992: Howard Official site: MEAC Championships
• 1991: Florida A&M Official site: MEAC Championships
• 1990: Coppin State Official site: MEAC Championships
• 1989: South Carolina State Official site: MEAC Championships