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Game Notes: NCCU at SC State (PDF)
THE GAME
For the first time in 2013, North Carolina Central University is coming off a loss after dropping a 44-36 decision to the defending regular season champion Tigers of Savannah State University on Saturday evening. The maroon and gray look to get back on track against South Carolina State in a Monday night MEAC showdown in Orangeburg, S.C. The Bulldogs are coming off a 72-70 win over NC A&T over the weekend.
THE SERIES
NCCU and SC State are meeting for the 42nd time in program history, with the Eagles holding on to a 22-19 lead in a series that dates back to Jan. 16, 1941. Since moving to DIvision I, the maroon and gray are 4-0 against the Bulldogs, including a 2-0 mark inside the Smith-Hammond Middleton Memorial Center. NCCU is 278-262 against the MEAC.
NCCU SPORTS NETWORK
The NCCU Sports Network will bring all the live action of Monday night's MEAC showdown between NCCU and South Carolina State beginning with the Champps Pregame Show at 5:15 p.m. Play-by-play voice Chris Hooks will call the action from the Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center for both the men's and the women's contest. Fans can interact with Hooks by following @NCCUAthletics on twiiter, by using the hashtags NCCUWBB and NCCUMBB, and by sending an e-mail to whooks@nccu.edu.
SOUTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY "BULLDOGS"
The Bulldogs of South Carolina State University enter Monday night’s matchup riding off the high off ending a school-record 15-game losing streak by beating the Aggies of North Carolina A&T 72-70 on Saturday. The Bulldogs were led by forward Darryl Palmer’s double-double that included a team-high 18 points and 12 rebounds in the win. Three other Bulldog student-athletes scored in double-figures, including senior point guard Khalif Toombs, who dropped in 15 points along with dishing out nine assists, as Adama Adams added 15 points as well. 6-11 center Matthew Hezekiah added 10 points and seven boards, while starting small forward Devin Joint grabbed a team-high 13 rebounds while blocking four shots. SC State is headed up by interim head coach Garvin Murray, as Tim Carter, former head coach, resigned effective immediately on Feb. 6 after six seasons at the helm. Murray was previously the Associate Head Coach for the Bulldogs in his second season on the staff in Orangeburg, S.C. Since taking the reins, SCSU is 1-1. One of the top points guards in the MEAC dons the SC State uniform as Toombs is second in the conference averaging 5.6 helpers a game, along with sitting in the No. 20 slot in the league in scoring averaging 11.9 points a game. The senior is No. 11 in the conference on the defensive side of the floor averaging 1.6 swipes a game with 36 steals on the year. Hezekiah is second in the MEAC in rebounding ripping down 7.7 rebounds a game for the Bulldogs, while his frontcourt teammate is No. 17 with 5.5 rebounds a game. Those two sit in the top-15 in field goal percentage with Hezekiah shooting 56.5 percent (5th in the MEAC) and Palmer is No. 15 shooting 44.4 percent. Back-up guard Adama Adams is 12th in the MEAC from the foul line shooting at a 74.5 percent clip. As a team, SCSU is ninth in the league in scoring offense averaging 61.1 points a game, while allowing 72.3 the most points in the league at 72.3 points per game. The Bulldogs are second in the conference in offensive rebounds at 13.6 boards per game and are sixth in the MEAC in blocked shots averaging 4.2 swats a contest collecting 97 at this point in the season.
UP NEXT
Following Monday’s ballgame, NCCU returns home for the long-awaited matchup against the Aggies of North Carolina A&T on Saturday, Feb. 23 at 4:00 p.m. in the friendly confines of McDougald-McLendon Gym. This huge contest marks the beginning of a three-game homestand as the Eagles head down the backstretch of the 2012-13 campaign as the maroon and gray will host Savannah State University on Saturday, March 2 looking for revenge against the defending regular season champions. After that ballgame, NCCU will host South Carolina State on Senior night for the Eagles on Monday, March 4 at 7:30 p.m.
