MSU handles Bulldogs in MEAC Opening Round, 61-52
Anthony Hubbard led the Bears with 16 points against No. 12 S.C. State.

MSU handles Bulldogs in MEAC Opening Round, 61-52

3/12/2013 12:36:00 AM

Box Score NORFOLK, Va. -- Junior Anthony Hubbard came off the bench to score 16 points and Morgan State pulled away in the second half to defeat South Carolina State 61-52 Monday night in the first round of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament.
 
Hubbard scored 11 points in a span of just under 7 minutes midway through the first half to rally the fifth-seeded Bears (15-14), who will play Savannah State in a Thursday night quarterfinal.
 
South Carolina State (6-24) went cold after scoring the game's first 12 points and leading 32-29 at halftime. The 12th-seeded Bulldogs shot 25.7 percent (8 of 31) in the second half, including 1 of 13 from 3-point range after making 4 of 6 first-half 3-pointers.
 
DeWayne Jackson scored 12 points for Morgan State to move into fifth place on the Bears' career scoring list with 1,549 points.
 
Matthew Hezekiah paced South Carolina State with 17 points and 10 rebounds.

"I knew that they were going to come out tough," said MSU coach Todd Bozeman. "They (SCSU) won their "Senior Night" against Delaware State and moved up, and they're playing for an interim coach, I know how that feels -- I've been an interim coach before. So I know how that feels to have a team rally behind you, so we wanted to make sure we met that energy and we kept our energy and composure.

"Clearly they got out on us early (10-0) and some of that was just learning and getting comfortable with the depth perception in the arena. I'm just glad that we settled down and started to play Morgan State basketball." 

Bozeman added, "It's about surviving and advancing and we're just happy to move to another day.”

Morgan State, which improved to 15-14 on the season, advanced to Thursday's 8 p.m. quarterfinals against fourth-seeded Savannah State, a 59-44 winner over Maryland-Eastern Shore.

The Bears lost a 78-70 double-overtime thriller against Savannah State in their only meeting of this season. The game was close until the very end, with 11 ties and 15 lead changes.


 
 
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