ORANGEBURG, SC – The South Carolina State will complete a four-game home Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference stand Monday when Howard pays a visit to Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center for a league doubleheader which gets underway at 5:30 p.m. with the women's contest. The men's game will follow at approximately 7:30.

The SC State men, (11-12, 6-5 MEAC), coming off a hard-fought 74-71 overtime win over Hampton on Saturday, are locked in a five-way tie for second place in the league standings behind leader Morgan State (15-10, 9-2 MEAC). Also at 6-5 in MEAC play are North Carolina A&T, Bethune-Cookman, Norfolk State and Coppin State.

The visiting Bison (7-17, 5-5) are just one-half game behind the five teams bunched at number two. Howard is coming off a 62-55 loss at Winston-Salem State on Saturday.

Coach Tim Carter's Bulldogs, winners of five of their last six contests, could reach the .500 mark with a victory Monday and stay in the hunt for a high finish in the league standings. A win would also give SC State a 3-1 record in their four-game home MEAC stand.

Senior center Jason Johnson, who played on Saturday against Hampton was limited due to battling the flu, spearheads the Bulldogs. The Bronx, NY native leads the team in scoring with a 14.4 average and is the conference rebounding (8.5 rpg) and field goal percentage (.642).

Trailing him in the scoring column for SC State is junior swingman Jason Flagler with 12.7 points per game and is second only to Johnson in field goal percentage in the MEAC at .569.

Howard, still seeking its first road win of the season, is paced by senior Eugene Myatt (15.3 ppg, 3.9 rpg) and freshman Chris McHenry (9.6 ppg, 2.2 rpg).

In a Jan. 19 meeting between the two teams at Washington, SC, the Bison defeated the Bulldogs 74-65.

In the women's contest, SC State (5-17, 2-9 MEAC) will be trying to snap a four-game losing streak, while the Lady Bison (4-19, 3-7 MEAC) will be looking to stop a three-game slide.

The Lady Bulldogs' latest loss came at the hands of Hampton, 77-59, on Saturday. Howard was also a loser on Saturday as the Lady Bison fell to Winston-Salem State 59-56.

Leading the way for host SC State will be junior guard Sophilia Hipps and senior center Marie Reid, both averaging 15.0 points per game. Senior forward Jenell Moore is the top rebounder for the Lady Bulldogs with 7.5 per outing to go along with 6.3 points per game.

Howard, which handed SC State a 64-46 setback at Washington, SC Jan. 19, will be led by Zykia Brown (16.1 ppg, 5.2 rpg) and Tamaya Daniels (7.8 ppg, 6.3 rpg).

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