Coppin State’s Nendah Tarke connected on a short jumper with 0.02 seconds left to lift the seventh-seeded Eagles to a 59-57 win over second-seeded Howard Wednesday evening in quarterfinal action of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Basketball Tournament at the Scope Arena.
The Eagles, who earned their third win of the season over Howard, moved into Friday’s 8 p.m. semifinal against the winner of Thursday’s quarterfinal matchup between third-seeded North Carolina Central and Maryland Eastern Shore, the sixth seed.
Coppin inbounded the ball after Howard’s Elijah Hawkins had tied the contest at 57-all when he made one of two free throws with 19.3 seconds remaining. After getting the ball into frontcourt, the Eagles got the ball to Tarke who beat Howard’s Devin Richmond off the dribble and nailed the jumper just inside the free throw circle for a 59-57 Eagle lead.
The clocked showed all zeros but after a review, 0.02 seconds were put on the clock giving Howard one last chance, however, the Bison’s long inbound pass was stolen by Tarke, the nation’s leader in steals per game this season, sealing the Eagles’ third win of the season over the Bison.
That steal gave the Gaithersburg, Md., native the Coppin State record for single-season steals (91).
Tarke finished with 15 points, 10 rebounds and six rebounds for an impressive stat line for the game. Kyle Cardaci also had 15 points for the Eagles, who got eight points each from Jesse Zarzuela, Justin Steers and Mike Hood in the win. Coppin improved to 8-22 on the season.
Howard was led by Steve Settle with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Hawkins added 11 points and six boards, but was whistled for nine of the Bison’s 23 turnovers in the loss. Howard had a 51-28 edge on the boards that advantage was negated by the high number of miscues.
The Bison ended their campaign at 16-13.
Coppin, using the long ball, got off to a 20-7 start with 12:56 left in the opening half and went on to a 30-24 lead at the intermission. Howard battled back and finally pulled even at 50-all when Settle made one of two from the line with 6:23 remaining.
The Bison had possession with a chance to take their first lead but a Howard turnover led to a 3-pointer by Cardaci and a 53-50 Eagle lead with 4:14 on the clock. Coppin State maintained a 3-point lead over the next three minutes until Hawkins made three of four from the line to tie the contest at 57-57 with 19.3 left, setting up the finish.
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