Senior forward Marquise Kately posted a season-high 19 points at South Carolina State.
Boxscore
ORANGEBURG, S.C. -- South Carolina State didn't have an answer for Marquise Kately, who scored a game-high 19 points on 7-for-13 shooting as the top-ranked Bears held off the Bulldogs 66-56 for their 4th straight win, their longest winning streak of the season.
Kately's 19 points marked a season-high for the senior who entered the year as a member of the Preseason All-MEAC First Team.
Jason Johnson had 14 points and 13 rebounds to lead South Carolina State,which had a four-game winning streak snapped as they fell to 5-5 in the MEAC. Jessie Burton added 12 and Josh Jackson chipped in 10 for the Bulldogs, who were hoping to make a statement by knocking off the league's top-ranked Bears.
“It was a good team win for us tonight,” said Morgan State coach Todd Bozeman.
“Ameer Ali stepped up real big and did a great job of guarding Jason Johnson in the second half.”
Ali, a redshirt freshman who missed most of the first half of the season due to injury, posted 8 points, dominated the glass with 14 rebounds, and held Johnson to 2-for-5 shooting in the second half.
Morgan State, who wrapped up a four-game undefeated road swing, hasn't lost since dropping a 62-57 decision to Hampton at Hill Field House on Jan. 26. The Bears have gone 8-2 since the New Year.
South Carolina State opened an early lead behind the play of Jessie Burton who hit two 3-pointers to help give the Bulldogs a 14-7 lead.
Morgan State fought back despite 3-for-15 shooting and a 3-pointer by Reggie Holmes seemed to jumpstart the Bears. Jermaine Bolden stole the ball and fed Holmes for a jumper to give the Bears their first lead of the game at 26-25 with 4:18 left in the first half.
Holmes scored 15 points (3-9 3FG) with six rebounds, while Kevin Thompson pitched in 14 points.
Jason Flagler's dunk in the final seconds gave the Bulldogs a 31-30 lead at the break.
The Bears scored the first six points of the second half and took the lead for good on a layup by Bolden at the 17:52 mark. After trailing at the half by one, Morgan State outscored the Bulldogs 36-25, but the key to victory down the stretch was their free throw shooting.
The Bulldog's Jessie Burton scored on a tip-in to cut the lead to 60-56 with :57 seconds left. The Bears connected on 11-of-14 free throws in the remaining seconds to pull away with their 8th conference victory of the season.
Todd Bozeman improved to 5-1 against South Carolina State, while his only loss to the Bulldogs was on Feb. 18, 2007 in Orangeburg.
Morgan State will return to action of Saturday when they will host the visiting Wildcats of Bethune-Cookman in a MEAC doubleheader. The women's team will begin at 2 p.m., and the men will follow with a 4 p.m. tip-off.
