Coppin St. Tops Bethune-Cookman 75-68 In MEAC

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) -- Michael Murray scored 24 points and grabbed eight rebounds as No. 7 seed Coppin State beat 10th-seeded Bethune-Cookman 75-68 in first-round action of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament Tuesday.

Coppin State (11-19) will face No. 2 seed Hampton in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.

Arnold Fripp finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Eagles, who never trailed. Daquan Brickhouse added 12 points and Dallas Gary 10.

Maurice Taylor's steal and layup tied the game at 51 with 10:37 remaining before Coppin State used a 12-3 run to open up a 63-54 lead nearly 4 minutes later.

Bethune-Cookman (7-25) responded with a 14-4 spurt, tying the game at 68 with 2:17 left, but CSU scored the final seven points as the Wildcats went 0 for 3 with a turnover in the final 2 minutes.

Clemmye Owens paced Bethune-Cookman with 22 points. Taylor finished with 18 points and 14 rebounds.