ORANGEBURG, SC—The South Carolina State men's basketball team will play their regular season home finale Saturday (Feb.25) when they host the visiting Florida A&M Rattlers at Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center. Tipoff is 2 p.m. for the women, with the men following immediately in a 4 p.m. start.

South Carolina State will salute four Bulldogs before the start of the men's contest, who will be playing in their final home game at S-H-M. Senior's Bobby Williams, Jr., Greg Mortimer, Eric "EJ" Eaves and Edward Stephens are all expected to graduate this May with their degrees.

This will be the first time the two teams have met during the regular season. The last time they met on the hardwood the Bulldogs defeated the Rattlers 79-67 (12/5/15) in Orangeburg. Mortimer led SC State with a team-high 21 points in the win.
 
LAST TIMEOUT: South Carolina State avenged an early season loss knocking off Coppin State 84-79 in Orangeburg.  Five Bulldogs scored double-figures with Eaves leading the way with a team-high 18 points. Junior guard James Richards finished behind Eaves with 16 points, while senior guard Mortimer had a solid game with 12 points, six rebounds and six assist. Stephens added 11 and Orangeburg native Tashombe Riley chipped in 10 points and five rebounds.

Meanwhile Florida A&M (7-20 overall, 5-9 MEAC), suffered a tough 69-76 defeat to defending MEAC Champion Hampton in Tallahassee. Desmond Williams led the way for FAMU with 16 points and eight rebounds in the loss. FAMU has three players in double-figures with Williams leading the way with 15.8 points and 6.0 rebounds. Marcus Barham is second with 12.6 ppg, while Justin Ravenel adds 10.

BULLDOG NOTE:   Eric Eaves and Edward Stephens became the first Bulldog duo in school history to reach the 1000-point milestone in the same season. Stephens reached the milestone against Hampton (Feb. 6, 2017) and currently has 1070 career points, while Eaves with 1,036 career points broke the mark against rival N.C. A&T (Feb.13, 2017) in only two seasons. The last player to reach the milestone was four-year starting point guard Khalif Toombs back in 2012-13.
 
Next up South Carolina State plays its final regular season game on the road at Savannah State in a MEAC doubleheader. Tipoff is 7:30 p.m.

Purchase your tickets now for the 2017 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Tournament March 6-11 at the Scope Arena in Norfolk, VA. For more information you can visit www.meacsports.com.

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