ORANGEBURG, SC – South Carolina State will close out its home basketball schedule Monday against Florida A&M in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference doubleheader which gets underway at 5:30 with the women's contest. The men's game will follow at approximately 7:30.
Special entertainment will be provided by The Jarvis Brothers, who will sing the national anthem before the men's game, and the SCSU Champagne Dancers.
The SC State women (5-21, 2-13 MEAC) will be trying to snap a losing streak that stretched to eight games Saturday with a one-point 68-67 loss to Bethune-Cookman. Coach Doug Robertson's team also hopes to avenge an 82-45 loss to the Lady Rattlers at Tallahassee, Fla. Feb. 2.
Leading the way for the Lady Bulldogs will be senior Marie Reid, who had 30 points and 10 rebounds in the loss to the Lady Wildcats Saturday. The Atlanta senior is averaging 16.1 points and 5.5 rebounds for SC State. Also in double figures is Sophilia Hipps with a 14.8 scoring mark. Jenell Moore is the top rebounder with 7.2 each outing, to go along with a 6.4 scoring average.
FAMU (11-15, 9-4 MEAC) also enters the contest on a losing note. The Lady Rattlers lost 69-64 at Winston-Salem State Saturday. Senior Deidra Jones, who tossed in 20 points in Saturday's loss, is the scoring leader for FAMU with a 13.5 average. Trailing her is Stephanie Foster, who is scoring at a 12.8 clip per game.
The SC State men (14-13, 9-6 MEAC), winners of eight of their last 10 contests, need a win against the Rattlers (9-18, 6-8 MEAC) to remain in third place in the league race. The Bulldogs are coming off a 65-53 triumph over Bethune-Cookman Saturday.
Spearheading SC State is senior Jason Johnson, who is averaging 14.5 points and an MEAC-leading 8.5 rebounds. He recorded his 12th double-double of the campaign – 13 points, 10 rebounds – in the victory over the Wildcats Saturday.
Johnson is followed in the scoring column for Coach Tim Carter's team by junior swingman Jason Flagler with 12.8 points and 6.0 rebounds. The two Bulldogs are one-two in field goal percentage in the MEAC with Johnson connecting on 63.2 percent of his shots from the field and Flagler hitting at 55.1 percent accuracy.
FAMU has won its last three contests after eight straight losses, including a 67-52 set back to the Bulldogs Feb. 2 at Tallahassee. The Rattlers triumjphed 71-69 at Winston-Salem State Saturday.
Lamar Twitty, who had 20 points and 12 rebounds in the win over the Rams Saturday, is the top scorer for FAMU with an 11.3 average, to go along with a 5.0 rebounds. Brandon Bryant, who also had 20 points Saturday, is second in scoring for the Rattlers with a 10.1 mark.
Following Monday's doubleheader, SC State will wrap up its regular season Thursday, Mar. 5, at Winston-Salem State. The game will not count in the league standings.
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