GREENSBORO, NC—The South Carolina State men's basketball team will face conference rival the Aggies of N.C. A&T in a pivotal Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference showdown Monday (Jan.12) at Cal Irvin-Don Corbett Courts. Tipoff is 5:30 for the women, with the men following afterwards.

South Carolina State (4-13 overall, 2-1 MEAC) enters the contest after suffering a 76-45 setback on Saturday to defending MEAC Champion North Carolina Central at McDougald-McLendon Gym. Freshman guard Edward Stephens led the Bulldogs with a team-high 11 points in the loss.

Meanwhile, the Aggies (4-13, 1-2 MEAC) won their second straight game and improved to 4-1 at home with a 68-47 conference win over Savannah State Saturday night. Junior Bruce Beckford led N.C. A&T with his fourth double-double of the season with 22 points and 12 rebounds on 6-for-10 shooting from the field and 8-for-8 shooting from the line.

Stephens leads the Bulldogs in scoring with 10.5 ppg, while sophomore Karon Wright is second with 7.5 points per outing. Junior forward Darryl Palmer is the leader on the boards with 7.5 boards and 7.6 points per outing.

Beckford is the leader for the Aggies with 15.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per contest, while teammate Artumus Bremers chips in 8.6 points and 2.1 rebounds.

Next weekend, both teams will make the long trip to play at Delaware State on Saturday (women 4 p.m./men 6 p.m) in Dover, Del. and Maryland Eastern Shore on Monday (5:30 p.m.women/7:30 p.m. men) in Princess Anne, Md.

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 Bulldogs website at www.scsuathletics.com