SC State Faces Coppin State in MEAC Tournament
By: SC State Athletics
NORFOLK, VA. (SC State Athletics) — The No.3-seed South Carolina State Bulldogs will face the No. 11-seed Coppin State Eagles in the quarterfinal round of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Tournament Thursday (Mar. 10) at the Scope Arena in Norfolk, VA. Tipoff is 6 p.m. and will be streamed live on ESPN3.
South Carolina State the No. 3 seed, received a two-day bye, while No. 11 Coppin State defeated No.6 N.C. A&T State 98-91 in double overtime on Monday (Mar. 7) to advance to the quarterfinal round.
To watch the game live click links:
STREAMED LIVE ESPN3: http://www.meacsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=209645708&DB_OEM_ID=20800&DB_OEM_ID=20800
LIVE STATS:
http://www.meacsports.com/liveStats/liveStats.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=20800&DB_OEM_ID=20800
The last time the two teams met earlier in the season, South Carolina State defeated Coppin State 88-83 in Orangeburg, SC. The Bulldogs had four players in double-figures with sophomore guard Ed Stephens leading the way with a team-high 23 points.
Stephens was a threat from behind the arc, connecting on 6-of-8 three-pointers. Senior guard/forward Gabriel McCray produced a solid performance on both ends with 19 points and nine (9) rebounds, while junior guard Eric Eaves finished with 18. Sophomore forward Tashombe Riley provided a key force down the stretch in the front court with 10 points and six (6) rebounds in the win.
Coppin State also, had four players in double-figures with Christian Kessee scoring a game-high 27 points, Trevon Seymoure was second with 14 points and nine (9) rebounds, while Blake Simpson added 13. Keith Shivers chipped 10 points, five rebounds, three assist and three steals in the loss for the Eagles.
MEAC NOTE: Bulldog head coach Murray Garvin was named the 2016 MEAC Coach of the Year guiding South Carolina State to a 17-13 overall, 12-4 regular season finish. This was the best regular season finish for the Bulldogs since 2005. Junior guard Eric Eaves was named to the All-MEAC Second Team for his play during the season. Eaves led the Bulldogs in scoring with 17.1 ppg (513 points), while shooting over .517% (167-of-323) from the field. He scored over 20+ points in 12 games or more and tossed in a career-high 35 points in the home-finale against Bethune-Cookman (3/3/16)
The 2016 MEAC Basketball Tournament tipped-off Monday, March 7, and will conclude on Saturday, March 12 with the men’s and women’s championship games. The men’s game will start at 1 p.m. and will broadcast live on ESPN2. The women’s finale will begin one hour after the men’s finish and will broadcast taped delayed on ESPNU beginning at 11 a.m. on Sunday, March 13. The preliminary games are streamed on ESPN3.
Live statistics of all games will be available on the conferences’ official website and the tournament’s official website, www.MEAChoops.com.
