Washington, DC—The Howard University men's basketball team will look to close out the 2014 regular season on a winning note as it hosts the Bears of Morgan State at 8 pm in Burr Gymnasium.

The Bison (7-23, 5-10 in the MEAC) are coming off an 86-69 road loss to Coppin State on Monday in which the Eagles dialed long distance and connected on 12 three pointers, including a sizzling seven of 13 in the second half.  Howard got a fine performance from junior forward Prince Okoroh, red-shirt sophomore center Oliver Ellison and freshman forward Tyler Stone in defeat.

Okoroh, the team's second leading scorer, had one of his better games in recent weeks, collecting 18 points.  Ellison had another outstanding defensive effort, grabbing nine rebounds and blocking three shots while Stone recorded his first double double of 13 points and 10 rebounds.  He also had three rejects.

But the Bison were hurt by the loss of leading scorer, James "J-Bird" Daniel, who picked up two quick fouls and had to sit the final 11 minutes of the first half as Howard trailed 36-28 at the half.  Daniel did finish with 23, 16 coming after intermission, but it severely affected the Bison's chances for a victory.

In the Bears (12-15, 10-5 in the MEAC), Howard faces one of the top four teams in the MEAC.  Morgan State, which is coming off a 78-73 home defeat to Florida A&M on Monday, is currently the fourth seed headed into the tournament.  The two teams met in December and the Bears prevailed, 87-58 at Morgan State.  The Bears have won two in a row and lead the series, 56-43.

The Bears feature all-MEAC candidate senior guard Justin Black, who leads the team in scoring at 18.5 points per game and 7-2 senior center Ian Chiles, who averages almost 16 points per game and poses a threat with his shot-blocking prowess (80 blocks on the season).

Following the game, the two teams will prepare for the upcoming MEAC Tournament, which kicks off on Monday at the Norfolk Score in Norfolk, VA.  The championship game will be played on Saturday, March 15 at 4 pm.  The game will be televised at 4 pm on ESPNU.