BALTIMORE, MD — The Howard University men's basketball team begins one of the most important stretches of the season with four conference games in the next nine days.
It all begins on Saturday when the Bison visit longtime rival Morgan State University at the Talmadge Hill Fieldhouse.  Tipoff is scheduled for 4 pm and will be webcast on www.weaa.org with Lamont Germany calling all the action.

Following the Morgan State game, the Bison will travel to Princess Anne, MD on Monday to play the Hawks of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore at 7:30 pm.  That game will be televised live on ESPNU as part of the MEAC/ESPN TV package.

The Bison return home to host Norfolk State University at 4 pm in Burr on Saturday, February 9 and turn around to take on the Pirates of Hampton University on Monday, February 8 at 8 pm.  The Spartans and the Pirates, who each have one loss in the MEAC, square off this weekend in a showdown at Hampton on Saturday.

The Bison (10-10, 4-1 MEAC) enter the game after pulling off an exciting 70-68 come-from-behind victory over Bethune Cookman at home on Tuesday.  In that game, James "J-Byrd" Daniel, III had his usual outing, leading all scorers with 24 points but the Bison were able to get key plays from Tyler Stone down the stretch that proved to be the difference.  Stone finished with his second straight double-double and has now become another viable option for the undermanned Bison, who are missing two starters in James "JT" Miller and Solomon "Solo" Mangham for what appears to be the rest of the season.

With the Wildcats defense focusing all its efforts on Daniel, the nation's leading scorer (27.9 points), it opened things for the 6-7 junior forward Stone, who scored on a variety of ways including canning clutch free throws down the stretch.

The Bison were able to also get a solid contribution from some unexpected places in junior forward/guard Damon Collins (14 points, 6 rebounds) and red-shirt junior guard Keon Hill, who scored 5 points and dealt out 4 assists in 12 productive minutes.

Howard will have to have that type of contribution from its bench if it is to stay in the hunt.  Currently at 4-1, they have a share of first place along with Norfolk State and Hampton.
The Bears (3-15, 1-4 in the MEAC) have dropped three in a row and have had problems scoring (averaging 64 points per game).  Morgan State is led by veterans Cedric Blossom (14.1 ppg, 6.7 rpg), Donte Pretlow and newcomers Phillip Carr (10.3 ppg, 7.2 rpg) and Rasean Simpson (10.1 ppg, 5.8 rpg).

The Bison snapped a three-game losing streak to Morgan State last year in Burr, but the Bears hold a 61-42 advantage in the series.

NEXT UP: Howard travels to Princess Anne, MD to take on the Hawks of the University of Maryland Eastern on Monday at 7:30 pm in a nationally televised game on ESPNU.