NCAA News Wire
Morgan State 63, UC Irvine 62
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
Guard Donte Pretlow’s basket with three seconds left gave Morgan State a 63-62 nonconference victory over visiting UC Irvine Tuesday night.
Forward Cedric Blossom scored 22 points for Morgan State, and Pretlow added 10 points for the Bears (2-8), who shot 23 of 48 (47.9 percent) from the field
Guard Alex Young had 16 points for the Anteaters (4-5), who opened a stretch of four consecutive games on the road for the second time this season. Guard Jaron Martin finished with 11 points and guard Dominique Dunning scored 10 for Irvine, which committed 17 turnovers that led to 14 points for Morgan State.
Morgan State trailed by one at the break, but Blossom scored six straight points, sparking a 10-4 run to open the second half and help the Bears to a 35-30 lead with 14:47 remaining.
After a layup by Young pulled Irvine to within three, center Zech Smith responded for the Bears, who maintained a 44-39 lead with 8:39 left.
The Anteater stormed back, and a layup by Young gave them their first lead since the beginning of the second half, 45-44, with just over six minutes remaining. The teams then traded shots before a pair of free throws by guard Blake Bozeman gave Morgan State a 60-59 lead with 46 seconds left. Bozeman added another free throws with 24 seconds remaining to give the Bears a two-point lead.
After Martin then hit a 3-pointer with 12 seconds remaining to put Irvine ahead by a point, Pretlow responded for the Bears with a floater that gave them a 63-62 lead with three seconds left.
