Kevin Thompson collected his 11th double-double of the season with 14 points and 20 rebounds agaisnt the Bulldogs.
Boxscore
ORANGEBURG, S.C. – It was a tough night for Reggie Holmes. Morgan State's senior guard, who entered tonight's contest among the top scorers in the nation (5th – 23.7 ppg), finished the game without a single field goal.
But tonight the Bears proved they can get it done even when their leading scorer is having an off night.
Morgan State freshman DeWayne Jackson scored a game-high 19 points and sophomore Kevin Thompson added 14 points and 20 rebounds to help the Bears pull out a 72-67 win Saturday night at the S-H-M Memorial Center in Orangeburg, S.C.
“It was an ugly win,” said Morgan State coach Todd Bozeman, “but any win is a good win."
Jackson led the Bears with 11 points during a 21-2 run and Troy Smith hit a 3-pointer to give the Bears a 51-40 lead with 11:38 remaining in the half. Morgan State never trailed from the point forward.
“At halftime coach told us that we needed to step it up and play our game,” explained DeWayne Jackson. “He asked us what we wanted to do and we knew we had to get the win. I felt like I had to become a leader (in a way) once I saw that Reggie's shots weren't falling.”
Jackson shot 5-for-10 from the field and finished 7-for-8 from the line with five rebounds and two blocked shots.
With the win the Bears improved to 4-0 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and 11-7 overall.
Holmes, who went scoreless in the first half, still managed to score in double-figures as he went 11-for-13 from the free throw line, including a pair with 23 seconds left give the Bears a 70-65 lead.
South Carolina State (7-7, 1-2 MEAC) had three consecutive missed layups on the following possession before Arsenio Williams finally made a tip-in to cut the lead to three points with 10 seconds left.
Smith was fouled and sent to the line where he buried both free throws to help secure Morgan State's third-straight win and its ninth consecutive conference win dating to last season.
“I'm just proud that we got back in it,” Bozeman said. “We didn't really play that well in the first half, but we played better in the second half. If we can win, and our leading scorer (Reggie Holmes) only has 11 points, then it's a good win.”
Smith finished the game with 8 points, while Sean Thomas had 9 points and Ameer Ali added 7 points and seven boards.
South Carolina State had the Bears off-balance throughout a majority of the first half. The Bulldogs played a mixture of defenses and forced Morgan State into committing nine first half turnovers. The Bulldogs outscored the Bears 15-4 over a four minute span and a jumper by Jason Flagler gave the Bulldogs a 26-15 lead. Morgan State trailed 34-22 at halftime, for their lowest-scoring half this season.
Williams led the Bulldogs with 13 points and Jason Flagler posted a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Morgan State shot 30-for-46 from the free throw line, including six of six free throws down the stretch to pull out the win.
Jason Flagler added 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Bulldogs and Cario Bennet chipped in 10 points.
The Bears will continue its road trip in the Carolinas when they face non-conference opponent Winston-Salem State on Monday, Jan. 18th. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
