Photo via @shotzbyabbie

By: Niles Garrison, Staff Writer  

The Morehouse Maroon Tigers suffered their second defeat of the South Regional Challenge to the Embry-Riddle University Eagles 84-69. A combination of a slow start and missed open shots led to the Eagles’ win over the Tigers. 

The Maroon Tigers struggled in the first half of their game as they shot 29%, in the first half. With shots not falling and 9 turnovers leading to fastbreak points, the Tigers found themselves down as much as 19 points in the first half.

Going into halftime the Maroon Tigers trailed 42 to 26.

“We just got to completely get better,” Coach Whittler said to the Maroon Tiger. “We dug a big hole today. Getting down early the way we did, was big for us and we never could get ourselves out of that hole.”

The second half saw a completely different Tigers team as the team came out in their full-court press. The press worked significantly well as the Tigers forced 12 turnovers and tallied up eight steals in the second half.

“We got a group that is a pretty good pressing unit but when you are coming from behind for so long, it is a pretty uphill battle,” head coach Douglas Whittler said.

The second half also included an offensive showing from freshman guard Damion “DJ” Mitchell. Mitchell scored a game-high 25 points for the Tigers with 22 of those points coming in the second half.

“We were down at half, so I was just told to be more aggressive,” Mitchell said.

Even with all the positives in forcing turnovers and steals, the Eagles still capitalized offensively. The Eagles shot 61% and worked well in their half-court sets.

The Maroon Tigers were able to bring their deficit within 12 points, but due to their early on shooting struggles and the Eagles’ high-percentage shooting, the deficit would be too much to overcome.  

“I think we were suffering from a little bit of disappointment from the game we gave yesterday,” Coach Whittler said. “So that kind of lagged over in today’s game.”

Along with Mitchell, Keshawn Pegues added 16 points with four rebounds and two steals for the Tigers. Demetrius Calip II got his first action for the Tigers and scored seven points. Calip also tallied up four steals in the second half to help the Tigers fight back.

Coach Whittler points out the defensive breakdowns and missed shots that his team had today and pledges to work on their mistakes before the next game.

“We have to make open shots”. Coach Whittler said. “We are not shooting the ball really well right now, so we have to get our guys in the gym, so they make those shots when we need it.”

The Maroon Tigers play Fayetteville State University on Friday, November 17 in Forbes Arena to start off the HBCU All-Stars Challenge.

Edited By: Kobe Scales, Sports Editor