Box Score ORANGEBURG, SC—Five Bulldogs scored in double-figures with senior guard Eric Eaves leading the way with a team-high 18 points to lead South Carolina State to an 84-79 victory over Coppin State Saturday (Feb.18) at Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center.

With the win, South Carolina State avenged an early season 59-75 road loss in the MEAC opener for both teams in Baltimore, MD.

"It was a very good win for us, we challenged the guys this week that it was all about winning nothing else," said head coach Murray Garvin. Coppin is a very good basketball team and well coached and my hats go off to them moving forward."

"We have probably played the toughest schedule in the league and maybe even the conference itself, but I told the guys it's never too late to play the right way and get things back on track," said Garvin.

Junior guard James Richards finished behind Eaves with 16 points, while senior guard Greg Mortimer had a solid game with 12 points, six rebounds and six assist. Edward Stephens added 11 and Orangeburg native Tashombe Riley chipped in 10 points and five rebounds.

The Bulldogs dominated in bench play getting 37 points from performers like junior guard Ty Solomon with seven points, five assist, four rebounds, freshman forward Ian Kinard seven points, three rebounds along with freshman forward Damani Applewhite grabbing a team-high nine rebounds in the win.

South Carolina State jumped out to a 10-point advantage 16-6 early on off a layup by Richardson at the 13:48 mark in the first half. A pair of free throws by Terry Harris with 3:12 remaining in intermission cut the lead to five, 31-26. Richardson turned up the heat tossing in seven straight points to close out the half to give South Carolina State an 42-26 lead during halftime.

The Bulldogs led by as many as 16 at one point before the Eagles put together a run that cut the lead to one, 53-52, off a layup and made free throw by Dejuan Clayton at the 10:20 mark in the second half. Clayton led Coppin State with a game-high 26 points, shooting 11-of-13 from the charity stripe.

Stephen's three-pointer followed by a layup by Richardson gave the Bulldogs the extra push they needed down the stretch to extend their lead to 10, 71-61, with 1:25 remaining in regulation. A dunk by Chas Brown with 0:07 seconds left cut the lead to five, 82-77, but Eaves sealed deal knocking down a pair of free throws in the closing seconds to secure the 84-79 victory.

Harris finished with 23 points and Chas Brown added eight points and 12 rebounds in the loss. Coppin State falls to 7-21 overall, 6-7 in the MEAC.

Garvin stated, "Our goal is to win one game at a time and finish the regular season strong then go into the tournament feeling good about ourselves as a team. Next up we have a very good Florida A&M team here on Saturday (Feb.25) it's our goal to send our seniors out with a win."

For more information on South Carolina State Athletics visit www.scsuathletics.com or call the Office of Athletic Media Relations at (803) 536-7060.
 
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