ORANGEBURG, SC—Freshman point guard Khalif Toombs shot 18-20 from the free-throw line and finished with a team-high 21 points, while JUCO transfer Darnell Porter chipped in 19 as South Carolina State cruised to a 97-82 win over Norfolk State Monday at S-H-M.
Both teams combined shooting an amazing 91 free-throws along with 64 fouls between both South Carolina State (27) and Norfolk State (37).
Senior guard/forward Jason Flagler recorded his third double-double of the season tossing in 17 points and grabbing 13 rebounds, while Norfolk State's Kyle O'Quinn scored a game-high 32 points and 11 rebounds in the loss.
SC State jumped out the gate early in the first-half building a 10 point advantage 24-14 off an Arsenio Williams jumper at the 9:26 mark. A jumper by Flagler followed by a Porter layup put the Bulldogs ahead 19, 43-24 with 0:52 seconds left in the first-half.
Senior Brandon Smalls nailed a 3-pointer as time expired to give the Bulldogs 47-26 lead at half-time.
The second-half the Norfolk State pulled within 14, off a dunk by O'Quinn at the 15:31 mark. A tip-in by Jason Flagler with 12:36 left in the contest put the Bulldogs ahead 25, 64-39.
O'Quinn tossed in back-to-back layups to cut the lead to 13, 91-78 with 0:57 seconds left in the game.
All-MEAC guard Michael Deloach finished with 22 points and eight rebounds for the Spartans, while freshman guard Tyvon Williams and Senior forward Aresnio Williams both chipped in 10 each in the victory.
“I think down the stretch we did a good job of holding them off”, said Carter. “We made some mistakes that could have easily put them back into the game but overall we shot well from the free-throw line.”
South Carolina State improved to 9-8 overall, 3-3 in the conference, while Norfolk State dropped to 3-15 overall, 2-4 in the league.
SC State will return to action on Saturday when they travel to the sunshine state to take on the Wildcats of Bethune-Cookman in an MEAC doubleheader. The women's contest begins at 2 p.m. followed by the men's in a 4 p.m. tip-off.
--30--
