ORANGEBURG, SC--- The South Carolina State fell short of its second straight Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference victory in a 28-26 loss to visiting Bethune-Cookman Saturday (Oct. 13^th) at Oliver C. Dawson/Willie Jeffries Field.

The Bulldogs fall to 1-5 overall, 1-2 in the MEAC, while the Wildcats improve to 4-3 overall, 2-1 in the league.

"A disappointing loss and it was a noble effort by our team, "said SC State head coach Buddy Pough. "Our guys played hard but we just couldn't complete the comeback and get the win."

BC-U jumped out to an early 10-0 lead off a 31-yard field goal by Uriel Hernandez at the 10:42 mark in the first quarter. Junior running back Trevor Merritt returned a 42-yard interception to put the Wildcats ahead two scores.

Redshirt sophomore quarterback Tyrece Nick's 2-yard punch at the start of the second quarter cut the lead to 10-6 at the 13:18 mark.  A block PAT by BC-U was returned by Kennedy Ndukwe to advance the lead 12-6.  Redshirt junior quarterback Akevious Williams took total control scoring on back-to-back runs of 31-yard and 26 to give the Wildcats a commanding 25-6 lead.

Nick responded again on a 35-yard touchdown toss to junior wide receiver Demontrez Burroughs with 0:03 seconds remaining in the first-half. BC-U led 25-13 during intermission.

The Bulldogs opened up the second-half with a 1-yard punch from Jarius Jenkins to pull within five 25-20 providing the only score in the third quarter. Hernandez connected on his second field goal of the day on a 21-yarder to give BC-U a 28-20 advantage.

South Carolina State responded off an effortless drive to cut the lead to two, 28-26, on a 1-yard touchdown run with 2:32 left in the game. BC-U offense held steady to pull out a 28-26 victory.

Pough noted, "The missed conversion they ran back for two-points hurt us down the stretch. I saw some big plays from some young guys with Nick going for over 100-yards and Jenkins also with 80."

Nick finished the day with 20 carries for 128-yards and two touchdowns, while also connecting 9-of-22 for 159-yards. Burroughs led the receiving corp with two catches for 69-yards and senior Jermone Pettiway produced another solid day punting with seven (7) punts for 297 yards with an average 42.4 yards per punt and a long of 51-yards.

Freshman defensive back Duane Nichols posted a team-high eight (8) tackles, one (1) tackle for loss and an interception.
 
South Carolina State returns to action on Saturday (Oct.20) when the host Delaware State in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) battle in a 1:30 p.m. showdown.