Jan. 15, 2007

Final Stats

Daytona Beach, Fla. - South Carolina State University used great free throw shooting down the stretch to pull away from Bethune-Cookman College, 68-56, in a men's basketball contest on Monday evening inside Moore Gymnasium in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Though failing to register a field goal over the course of the final four minutes of the game, SCSU (6-10, 4-2 MEAC) converted where it counts, when it counted ... at the foul line. The Bulldogs' Brian Mason, one of the better free throw shooters in the league [Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference] toed the line 14 times on the evening, converting on 12 attempts. Mason shot 10 free throws over the course of the last five minutes of the game, and swished all 10 shots to keep the Wildcats at bay down the stretch.

Trailing 37-26 at the half, Bethune-Cookman (3-12, 1-5 MEAC) used a three-pointer from Josh Cummings and a jumper in the paint from Aaron Nelson to cut the SCSU lead to one at 46-45 with 8:14 left in the game. The `Cats tied the game up at 51-51 minutes late as Jimmy Hudson connected for one of his team-high tying 10 points on a free throw following a Bulldogs foul.

The Bulldogs then went on an 8-1 run to extend their lead back out to seven at 59-52 as Mason hit six consecutive free throws and a jumper along the baseline on four SCSU trips up the court.

Free throws the rest of the way became critical as SCSU forced B-CC into offensive fouls and defensive fouls via Bulldog offensive rebounds. Mason was the ice in the drink for the `Dogs as they shut down the Wildcats to just one made basket from the floor, a jumper from Nelson, over the course of the final three minutes of play.

The game started out with the Bulldogs jumping to an early 16-7 lead behind the shooting of Thomas Bookman banking back-to-back long range shots, added a lay-up from Robert Baker. The Wildcats of B-CC trimmed the lead to two (23-21) as Ron Mitchell and Hudson emerged as a dangerous "one-two" punch over the course of the next three minutes to put the `Cats back in business.

The story in this game came down to foul shooting as the `Dogs took advantage of several calls against the `Cats, converting on 30-of-37 free throws on the night. The Wildcats were slapped with 23 fouls, while shooting just 17 free throws in the contest. The 37 free throws allowed was the second-highest on the year (38 vs. FAMU), and the sixth time this season that an opponent has shot 30 or more charity strokes--the second game in a row, as well.

SCSU was led on the night by Mason with a game-high 16 points, but just two shots from the field. He also picked up seven rebounds. Behind him in double figures were Travis Jones with 12, as well as Jason Flagler and Julius Carter with 10 points each. Derrick Davis set up the offense with a game-high seven assists.

For B-CC, the `Cats were led by Hudson and Cummings with 10 points each, as well as Mitchell pitching in nine. The high assist playmaker on the night for the Wildcats was Damitrius Coleman with six, while Jordan Carrier aided the `Cats off the bench with three assists and three points.

Bethune-Cookman continues conference play on Saturday, Jan. 20 when they travel to Howard University for a big MEAC match-up at 4 p.m. inside the revered Burr Gymnasium.