Boxscore
ORANGBURG, S.C. –
Ameer Ali scored 19 points to lead Morgan State almost wire-to-wire over South Carolina State 73-68 in its conference opener on Saturday at the S-H-M Memorial Center.
The Bears (3-9, 1-0 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) had four players in double figures as
Kevin Thompson had 17 points,
DeWayne Jackson 14 and
Ian Chiles 10. Ali, who came into tonight's contest fresh off a career high 21 points against San Francisco, was 7 of 9 from the free-throw line.
Morgan State shot 41.7 percent from the field (14 of 33) and snapped a two-game losing streak. The win also marked the Bears' fourth straight against SCSU, and also improved MSU coach
Todd Bozeman's record against the Bulldogs to 10-2 since 2006.
The game was tied at 11 apiece (12:15) before the Bears used a 14-0 run and
Aric Brooks hit a jumper to give MSU a 25-11 lead with 8:24 to go in the in the first half. The Bears led 39-30 at halftime. Morgan State outscored the Bulldogs 32-20 in the paint.
Brandon Riley led S.C. State (4-11, 0-2) with 26 points and hit 5 of 10 3-pointers. Omar Sanders posted a double-double with 13 point and a game-high 14 rebounds and Joe Ikhinmwin had 11 for the Bulldogs, who lost their 10
th in a row.
SCSU steadily chipped away at the Bears' lead in the second half and tied the ballgame at 57 apiece when Ikhinmwin hit a pair of free throws with 7:46 remaining. But down the stretch MSU got enough clutch baskets by Thompson and Jackson and hit a couple of free throws to help secure their first win since defeating Loyola Marymount on Dec. 21, 2011.
The Bulldogs outrebounded MSU by a 51-35 margin and scored 18 points off of second chance opportunities, but shot just 35.8 percent from the field (24-67).
MSU will face Savannah State in conference play on Monday, January 9.
