Winston-Salem, NC— South Carolina State's bid for its first Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament title in seven seasons ended Saturday with a 68-61 loss to top-seeded Morgan State in the finals at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Coach Tim Carter's team was unable to overcome poor shooting from the field and the inside power of the Bears and tournament MVP Kevin Thompson. Thompson scored a game-high 18 points to lead four players in double figures as Morgan State earned its second straight tournament title and back-to-back trips to the NCAA Championship. The Bears, who improved to 27-9, will await the pairings which will be announced on Sunday.

Freshman Khalif Toombs had 15 points, 13 in the second half, to lead SC State. Senior Jason Flagler, whose ended his Bulldog career, and Darnell Porter added 12 points each in the loss. SC State ended its season at 18-14.

The first half was one of runs.  First the Bears went on an 11-3 run to take a 20-10 lead at the 7:50 mark.  It was fueled by three straight three pointers, two by Jackson, and one by Holmes.

The Bulldogs countered with a run of their own as Tyvon Williams, Jason Flagler and Darnell Porter combined for nine of their points during a 13-2 run. Morgan State then finished the half strong with a 7-2 spurt to take a 29-24 lead at the break. Thompson made good on all three of his shots from the field and grabbed 5 rebounds as the Bears shot 50 percent (12 of 24) from the field.

The Bulldogs (18-14) were able to stay close despite missing 19 of 25 shots.  They compensated by converting 10 for 13 free throw attempts. SC State put together what would be its last run of the game, this time an 8-2 run that gave the Bulldogs their first and only lead of the second half at 32-31 on a three-point basket by Porter at the 16:42 mark.

That is when Thompson and the Bears took control, embarking on a 21-8 run over an eight-minute span to open the biggest lead of the second half at 52-40.  Thompson scored 10 of the points during the run, grabbed some key rebounds and blocked shots as SC State had no answer for the tourney MVP.

“They did a good job of going to their strengths and exploited our weakness inside,” said SC State head coach Tim Carter.  “Not being able to stop Thompson inside was the difference.”

“Also, I've said all along,” he continued “The when we shoot the ball well, we are a pretty good basketball team. But, today, we didn't shoot well, just 31 percent, while they hit 53 percent.”

Despite the season-ending loss, Carter praised the effort of his team and lauded the play all year of Flagler, who ended his SC State career shooting over .500 from the field and with almost 1500 points.

“Flagler did a great job of leading our team all year,” Carter said. “He's undersized but fought tooth and nail with much bigger players all year. He has his SC State degree and whatever he chooses to do in life, I expect him to be successful.”