Eagles land in Dayton and still soaring with confidence
DAYTON, Ohio – Hours before they’ll take on Mount Saint Mary’s in the opening-round of the NCAA Tournament, Coppin State arrived in Dayton late Monday afternoon before taking to the University of Dayton Arena court for a one-hour practice.
Two days ago, they were locked in a tight battle with cross-town rival Morgan State in a “Battle of Baltimore” for the MEAC Tournament Championship.
That contest came right down to the wire. It might not have been quite like the conclusion of the HBO hit television series, but the showdown between seventh-seeded Coppin State and top-seeded Morgan State produced all sorts of drama you’d expect from two teams vying to get that elusive ticket to the big dance, and also for the fact that both schools are located just a few miles apart from one another.
In the end, it was All-MEAC First Team guard Tywain McKee capping off a night to remember. His driving floater with three seconds remaining sealed a hard-fought 62-60 win for the Eagles. McKee finished with a school and tournament record 33 points, good for Most Outstanding Player honors.
After Saturday’s thrilling victory, Fang Mitchell’s squad was quickly back to work in getting ready for Tuesday night’s matchup with the Mount St. Mary’s. Coppin State, which enters the tournament as the first school with 20 losses, meets the Northeast Conference Champions with the winner moving on as the 16th seed against top-seeded North Carolina in the East Region on Friday.
“It doesn’t bother me about the losses,” said Mitchell. “It’s a three-phase process and it was a tough way to get here. But to get to this point is a great feeling.”
It was expected Coppin State would be headed for Dayton for Tuesday’s “play-in” game, but the head coach says he was a bit miffed by the selection committee announcing the contestants an hour before the remaining 63 teams were named. Mitchell says the committee took away some of that excitement by naming the two teams too early, but compared to some of the other big-name schools that got snubbed in Arizona State, Ohio State and Virginia Tech, Mitchell says he’s not complaining.
“I really didn’t understand what the purpose of that was for announcing it early,” he said. “But at this point in the year, the major thing was to get there.”
As for Tuesday’s tangle with the upstart Mountaineers, Mitchell and his squad clearly knows what’s at stake.
“We’re blessed to be in this position that we’re in right now,” said Mitchell. “Our players may be somewhat tired from all the traveling, but when the game starts, they know that this is an opportunity for them to be successful.”
The Eagles will need all the energy they can muster up because Mount St. Mary’s boasts a pair of speedy guards in freshman Jean Cajou and sophomore Jeremy Goode. Cajou was named the NEC Tournament MVP after helping his team knock off Sacred Heart last week in Fairfield, CT. He averaged over 17 points during the championship run and has reached double figures in six straight contests.
“They have a lot of quickness at that position,” said Mitchell. “In reality, nothing changes. You just have to take care of the guards.”
For Coppin, without question the key to this run has been the play of McKee. He leads the team in scoring with a 16.6 average and has received support from another guard in Antwan Harrison. He’s also put up some good numbers with a 10.6 scoring average, second on the team.
“What he has done is shown tremendous leadership and has been a great team leader for us,” said Mitchell of McKee. “His attitude has also been very positive.”
Now that the 16-20 Eagles have touched down in Dayton, the focus will be solely on the Mountaineers. However, should Mitchell’s squad pull out another victory in front of a national television audience, they’ll get a major test in the Tar Heels.
Are they up for the challenge should they get that far?
“We take it one game at a time,” said Mitchell. “We’re talking about the best team in the country. If it happens, it will be a tough game, but we’ll be ready.”
Perhaps it can happen, but the first task at hand is keeping their early Cinderella run going against their other neighbors from Emmitsburg, Md.
