Box Score BALTIMORE, MD—The South Carolina State Bulldogs suffered yet another setback, after a 55-43 loss to Morgan State at Hill Field House Monday (Feb.9).

South Carolina State falls to 9-17 overall, 6-5 in the MEAC, while Morgan State improves to 6-18 overall, 4-8 in the league.

"We just flat out got beat physically on the glass tonight," said Bulldog head coach Murray Garvin. "Morgan State had 21 offensive rebounds and we didn't step up to the challenge of rebounding tonight. One guy can't do it alone (Darryl Palmer.) and we defended well enough on their first shot but giving up 15 points on put backs are hard to counter. "

"We also missed crucial free-throws that could have swung the game in our favor," said Garvin. "I also thought that losing Edward Stephens in the first-half due to injury impacted our team a great deal." 

Morgan State clearly dominated on the boards tonight out-rebounding SC State 51-24 (21 offensive rebounds), which led to 26 unanswered points in the paint.  The Bears were led by senior forward Cedric Blossom with 17 points and six rebounds.

MSU's forward Risen Simpson recorded the games only double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, while the big man in the middle senior Zech Smith also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds in the win.

SC State was led by sophomore guard Jalen White with 12 points, while freshman forward Tashombe Riley added 11. Junior forward Darryl Palmer grabbed a team-high nine rebounds along with three blocks in the losing effort.

The Bulldogs shot a 60% (15-of-25) from the free-throw line, while the Bears shot a season low 37% (9-of-24) from the charity stripe. SC State got some effort from its bench outscoring Morgan State 22-16.

Garvin stated, " We preach "Next Man Up" in those situations but we just couldn't find our of offensive rhythm tonight. We have this week to get ourselves back together and head to Savannah on Saturday for another MEAC. Contest. 

SC State returns to action on Saturday (Feb.14) in a pivotal MEAC doubleheader with Savannah State. Tipoff for the women is4 p.m., with the men following immediately afterwards in a 6 p.m. start.
 
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.