NORFOLK, Va. – No. 5 South Carolina State built a 15-point lead with just under six minutes to play and made just enough free throws down the stretch to hold off fourth-seeded Norfolk State, 88–82, in quarterfinal action of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Tournament at The Scope.

Coach Erik Martin's team, which improved to 10–21, moved into Friday's semifinals against top-seeded Howard, which earned a first-round bye and will be seeing tournament action for the first time. Tipoff for the contest is 6 p.m.

SC State, which lost twice to Norfolk State during the regular season and fell to the Spartans in last year's tournament final, improved to 10–21 with the victory, while Coach Robert Jones' team ended its campaign at 15–17. The Bulldogs will be seeking their first tournament title since the 2003 season.

Jayden Johnson had a season-high 28 points to lead the Bulldogs. The sophomore point guard connected on 9-of-12 shots from the field, including 3-of-3 from three-point range. Florian Tenebay added 13 points, James Morrow 11, and Noah Treadwell 10 in the Bulldogs' win.

Johnson, Tim Okojie, Derwin Hodge, and Morrow had five rebounds each to lead Martin's team on the boards.

Elijah Jamison had 24 points to lead three Spartans in double figures. Anthony McComb III added 21 points, and Devon Ellis had 14 points and a team-high six rebounds for Norfolk State, which had previously won four tournament titles, including last season.

SC State, which made half of its shots from the field, took a 72–57 lead on a Tenebay jumper with 5:43 to play and appeared to be sailing to an easy win. But that was the last field goal of the game for the Bulldogs, who made 16-of-23 free throws the rest of the way.

The Spartans, helped by some long-range shooting down the stretch and some missed opportunities at the charity stripe by SC State, closed the gap to 77–67 on a three-pointer by Jordon Leaks with 2:47 on the clock before the Bulldogs went ahead 81–69 when Rayniel Wright made one of two from the line with 1:49 to play.

The Spartans resorted to fouling and, despite two misses from the line by Treadwell with 43 seconds remaining, the Bulldogs canned 7-of-8 from the stripe to hang on for the win. Norfolk State got to within five twice, the last time at 87–82 after a McComb three-pointer with just 3.2 seconds remaining.
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