Aric Brooks scored 17 points and Morgan State used a couple of spurts to beat Western Illinois 72-53 on Tuesday in the Cancun Challenge.
Kevin Thompson finished with 12 points, Ameer Ali had 11 and Rodney Stokes added 10 for the Bears (2-2).
Morgan State trailed 9-7 with 12:34 left in the first half after Western Illinois' David Gebru scored, but the Bears responded with a 20-1 run and held a 15-point lead by halftime. Thompson, who also had eight rebounds, had his three-game streak of double-doubles snapped.
The Leathernecks (2-3) cut the lead to five points with 12:00 left in the second half on Matt Lander's layup. But Brooks, who 7 of 11 of the game, knocked down a 3-pointer to spark a 15-0 run that put the Bears ahead by 20 points to put the game away.
Lander led Western Illinois with 14 points and David Gebru added 10.
