The Spartans men’s basketball conquered the South Carolina State Bulldogs 67-65 in an overtime win. The game took place on February 1st in Joseph Echols Hall.
The Bulldogs started the game off strong with the first two shots of the game, one from forward Drayton Jones on a fast break and the other from forward Davion Everett. Soon after, Spartan forward Jalen Myers scored their first bucket of the game with his own layup.
Bulldog guard, Mitchell Taylor, was determined to keep their lead as he made a layup and a free throw from a foul by Spartan guard, Brian Moore. Immediately after, Moore scored his first basket of the game by stealing the ball from the Bulldogs and making a layup
Spartan guard, Dramane Camara, got a steal and found his teammate, guard, Terence Jones, who went down the court on a fast break to lay the ball up. Spartan forward, Kuluel Mading, blocked a jumper by the Bulldogs, and dunked the ball soon after to close the gap in score.
To take their first lead of the game, Moore was fouled after making a layup and made a jumper after he missed his free throw. The Bulldogs, not letting that slide, went on an 8-0 scoring run to take back their lead. (T.) Jones put an end to their run after making a jumper at the shot clock. He then made another layup to end the half 22-26.
Bulldogs forward, James Morrow, got the first basket of the second half after tipping the ball in from guard Omar Croskey’s missed layup. Spartan guard, Christian Ings, responded making his first three-pointer of the game, which was assisted by guard Jaylani Darden. Vice versa happened when Darden made his first basket from a layup assisted by Ings.
The Bulldogs were holding on strong to their lead when (T.) Jones hit a jumper to make it a two-point game. There was a sequence of the shot being missed and the ball being rebounded by the Spartans, but (T.) Jones made the three-pointer to advance the score.
Moore hit a crossover into a jumper to turn the match into a one-point game. Out of the timeout, Moore made a contact layup to give the Spartans another lead. From this point, it was a fight to the end as both teams wanted to dominate the other for the win.
Moore made a hockey assist to Mading for a dunk to try and secure a lead. The Spartans almost took the game, but Everett made a layup with 19 seconds left in the match. The teams tied four times leading up to the end of the half and went into overtime 54-54.
With five minutes on the clock for overtime, the teams were hungry to put an end to the match once and for all. The Spartans got the first three points of OT from a free throw by Myers and a layup by (T.) Jones. Taylor took their lead away by tying them with a three-pointer, and later assisted his teammate guard, Wilson Dubinsky, with another three-pointer to take the lead.
Leaving no time for the Bulldogs to make a move, the Spartans took over the last minute of the match going on a 5-0 scoring run and winning the game 67-65
Spartan leaders of the game were Terrance Jones with 20 points and two steals; Jaylani Darden with nine rebounds, three assists, and two steals; and Kuluel Mading with three blocks. Bulldog leaders of the game were Mitchell Taylor with 15 points and two assists, and Drayton Jones with nine rebounds and two assists.
Spartan Echo 