No. 3 SC State Uses Free Throw Shooting To Get By No. 6 UMES

No. 3 SC State Uses Free Throw Shooting To Get By No. 6 UMES
Patricia Porter 03/11/10

Winston-Salem, N.C., March 11 - South Carolina State scored its last seven points from the free-throw line to pull away to a 59-53 win over Maryland Eastern Shore in the quarterfinal round of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament at the Joel Coliseum.

The Bulldogs (17-13), the Number 3 seed will take on Delaware State, the Number 2 seed, in a semifinal match on Friday at 8 pm.

The Hawks (11-21), the Number 6 seed, took control early by riding the scoring of Josh Bright, holding a 20-13 advantage on the boards, and forcing 9 turnovers.

“We knew that it was going to be a war,” said SC State Coach Tim Carter. “It was a war down there and we expected the same thing tonight. It was an ugly game and neither team shot the ball well. Because of our lack of size, we have a very small margin for error.”

In the second half, SC State became more efficient. Jason Flagler and Darnell Porter provided the offensive punch and the Bulldogs won the rebounding battle, 20-14.

After UMES took the biggest lead of the game at 30-20, the Bulldogs went on a 16-6 run to tie the game at 36-all. From there, it was a nip-and-tuck affair with five ties and five lead changes before the Bulldogs were able to put the game away at the foul line.

“Give South Carolina State credit; they came out in the second half and imposed their will on us,” said UMES head coach Frankie Allen, in his second year there. “They took away some things from us and they hit their free throws to win a hard-fought game.”

Added Coach Carter, “I thought our defense was the key down the stretch. We missed some of our free throws but we hit the ones that we needed to.”

The Bulldogs held the Hawks to one field goal in the last 2:12.

UMES was led by Hillary Haley with 13 off the bench and Bright and Kevin White, who tallied 11 and 10, respectively in a losing effort.

The Bulldogs were paced by Flagler, a first team all-MEAC selection, who led all scorers with 20, and Porter, who contributed 16.

SC State met Delaware State once during the season in Dover, DE and the Hornets prevailed, 67-58.

“We played them at their place and it was a very competitive game,” said Carter. “They have a great coach, they run great stuff and they keep you off balance. If we are not hitting our shots, we could be in for a long night.”