SC State Ends Miserable Season 5-26

WINSTON-SALEM, NC (SCSU SID) — South Carolina State had three players in double figures but was unable to overcome 19 turnovers and a poor-shooting opening half in dropping a 62-53 decision to Bethune-Cookman Tuesday in the opening round action of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament at the Joel Coliseum. The loss was the eighth in a row for Coach Tim Carter‘s team and denied the Bulldogs a win against MEAC competition for the entire season. SC State dropped all 16 regular-season contests against its MEAC foes. The Bulldogs, who won just one of their final 25 contests, ended the campaign 5-26 overall. Junior Khaliff Toombs had 13 points and three assists to lead the SC State effort in the loss. Seniors Brandon Riley and Presano Bell added 12 points each. Bell was also the team‘s leading rebounder with seven for the contest. The fourth-seeded Wildcats, who earned their third win in as many outings over the Bulldogs this season, advanced to Thursday‘s quarterfinals against fifth-seeded North Carolina Central, a 60-43 winner over Maryland-Eastern Shore. Stanley Elliott had a career-high 16 points to pace B-CU. Kevin Dukes contributed 13, including a crucial 3-pointer early in the second half after SC State had pulled to within two, and Ricky Johnson added 10, including an 8-8 performance from the charity stripe. The Wildcats, behind an aggressive defense, created 10 first-half turnovers in racing to a 27-18 lead at the break. Twenty of B-CU‘s points in the first 20 minutes came in the paint to just six for the Bulldogs. The Wildcats also held the Bulldogs to just 27.3 percent shooting in the first half, while converting 43.3 percent of their shots in building a 9-point cushion at the half. SC State, which had hoped to avoid first-round elimination for the first time since the 1991 campaign, began the second half with a 10-3 run to close the gap to 30-28 on a runner by Riley with 16:56 left. Dukes, who had scored the Wildcats‘ only points of the second stanza on a 3-pointer, nailed his second shot from behind the arc to push the B-CU lead to five, 33-28, with 15:55 showing. “The second three by Dukes was huge,” said SC State‘s Carter. “We had been bouncing around defense (from zone to man-to-man) and we knew he was probably the only guy that could step up and make a three. “We wanted to maintain an arm-length distance to him,” he continued, “but they moved the ball around and he knew he was open and stepped up and nailed the shot. That was crucial.” After Duke‘s 3-pointer, Bell completed a three-point play to pull SC State to within 33-31 with 15:37 left, but the Wildcats built their lead to 45-36 on an inside basket by Garrius Holloman and maintained at least a five-point cushion the rest of the game. “Overall, Bethune-Cookman did a tremendous job and deserve a lot of credit,” Carter said. They were playing without one of the better low-post players (Anthony Breeze) in the league but they played hard and aggressive and took advantage of our poor shooting and turnovers. “But, I‘d like to commend Presano Bell He had a good night, he rebounded, he made shots and he kept us in the game.” Bell made all three of his attempts from the field and was six of seven from the line in the loss. The Wildcats scored the game‘s first six points of the game before SC State came back with six unanswered to forge the game‘s first deadlock at 6-6 when Martin nailed the second of two free throw attempts with 14:10 on the first period clock. B-CU then went on an 8-0 run, with Dukes getting six of his total during the spree, to go ahead 14-6 at 10:04 of the period. SC State got to within four twice before the Wildcats took a 27-18 edge to the locker room.