Box Score ORANGEBURG, S.C.—The South Carolina State Bulldogs forced 21 turnovers en route to 70-61 victory over the visiting Rattlers of Florida A&M Saturday in MEAC men's basketball action at Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center.

It was the conference opener for both teams, with South Carolina State improving to 2-5 overall, 1-0 in the MEAC and Florida A&M remaining winless at 0-9 overall, 0-1 in the league.

"It was great to start off the MEAC with a win over Florida A&M," said SC State head coach Murray Garvin. "It was a total team effort we just have to learn how to carry our energy over to the second-half moving forward."

South Carolina State had three players in double-figures with freshman forward Tashombe Riley leading the way with 13 points and sophomore guard Greg Mortimer adding 10. Senior guard/forward Devin Joint excited the crowd with his dazzling dunks finished with 10 points (5-of-5 from the field) and six rebounds.

Junior forward Darryl Palmer was the leader on the boards with game-high eight and six points, while teammate freshman point guard Ty Solomon controlled the tempo on the floor dishing out a game-high seven assists along with three steals.

The Bulldogs led by as many as 21, 47-26, off a three-pointer by Mortimer at the 17:29 mark in the second-half. FAMU sparked a 24-7 run to cut the lead to single digits nine, 54-45, with 8:57 remaining in the game.

A long range three-pointer by sophomore guard Karon Wright, followed by an monster dunk by Joint push the lead to 14,63-49, with less than 5:45 left. Back-to-back three-pointers by Jorge Rosa and Craig Bowman cut the lead to eight, 67-59, with 1:35 left in regulation.

The Bulldogs connected on key free-throws down the stretch to hold on to a 70-61 victory over the visiting Rattlers.

FAMU had four players in double-figures with freshman guard Jorge Rosa leading the way with a game-high 20 points. Junior guard Jermaine Ruttley finished with 12 before fouling out, while teammates Craig Bowman added 11 and Jerran Foster 10 in the loss.

SC State returns to the court on Monday to meet Bethune-Cookman in the second game of an MEAC doubleheader, with the women beginning at 5:30 p.m., and the men following immediately afterwards. The contest is free admission to all SC State employees with a valid SC State-issued ID. General admission is $7 and reserved seating $10.

For more information on South Carolina State University basketball, please call the Office of Athletic Media Relations at (803) 536-7060, or visit the official Bulldog website at www.scsuathletics.com.