Box Score DURHAM, NC – Three South Carolina State players reached double digits in scoring but it was not enough as the Bulldogs fell to a hot-shooting opponent for the second time in as many outings in losing 85-62 at North Carolina Central Saturday in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference contest.

Orangeburg's Tashombe Riley and Ed Stephens each tallied 15 points and Eric Eaves added 13 for the Bulldogs, all but two in the first, in the loss which dropped Coach Murray Garvin's team to 7-17 overall and 4-7 in the MEAC. Riley had five rebounds to lead the Bulldogs on the boards, where NCCU enjoyed a 37-24 edge.

NCCU, the MEAC leader at 18-6 overall and 9-1 in the league, had four players in double figures, led by the 27 points of Patrick Cole. Del'vin Dickerson added 20 points and a game-high eight rebounds, while Kyle Benton and Dajuan Graff contributed 12 and 11 points, respectively, in the victory.

The Bulldogs, who have struggled from the field of late, made 55.6 percent of their attempts in the second half but made just 10-30 tries in the opening half to finish with a 43.9 accuracy, but they could not match the hot-shooting Eagles, who made 52.6 percent of their shots from the field, including 55.2 percent in the final stanza. NCCU also had a big advantage at the charity stripe, hitting 18-20 attempts to just 7-11 tries for SC State.

"We are struggling to guard people," said Garvin following the game. "We have to buckle down and play better defense if we are to have any chance of doing well the rest of February and in March (the MEAC Tournament). I give credit to NC Central. They shot the ball well and took advantage of every turnover we made it seemed like.

"But, we have about 48 hours to get ready for North Carolina A&T on Monday. They do not have a very impressive record but that belies their talent level. We have to do some soul-searching and come ready to play (on Monday)."

NCCU built a comfortable 15-point lead at the half and was not really threatened after that, although SC State closed the gap to 11, 57-46, on a Ty Soloman short jumper with 13:13 to play. The host Eagles then went on a 17-7 run to pad the lead to over 20, 74-53, with just over eight minutes to play. The closest SC State came after that was 16 points, 74-58, on a Greg Mortimer 3-pointer with 5:49 left on the clock.

The host Eagles were 14-28 for 50 percent accuracy from the floor and made all 10 their free throw attempts in the first half in building a 40-25 lead at intermission. Cole had 15 of his total in the first 20 minutes.

Following a 5-all tie with 18:03 in the first period, NCCU went on a 12-2 run, capped by a Cole drive, to go ahead 17-7 with 13:35 left in the period. A time out by the Bulldogs fueled a 7-0 SC State run that included a layup and 3-pointer by Stephens, who had 10 first-half points, brought Murray's team to within 17-14 at the 9:54 mark. The Eagles, however, regrouped and scored 11 unanswered points to build a 28-14 advantage with 6:30 on the clock.

The Bulldogs got four straight points from Ian Kinard to come to within 28-18 with 5:18 showing, however, the Eagles closed the half with a 12-7 run to establish a 15-point halftime advantage.
                                                                                                       --30--