Feb. 2, 2008

Box Score

Orangeburg, S.C. (AP) - Jessie Burton scored 13 points to lead South Carolina State to come back from a 16-point second-half deficit to beat Bethune-Cookman 51-48 Saturday inside the Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center in Orangeburg, S.C.

The Bulldogs (7-14, 3-4 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) shot just 25 percent in the first half, but improved to 50 percent in the second half, including going 4-6 from long range.

The Wildcats (8-13, 3-5 MEAC) made 5-10 3-pointers in the first half, but went cold in the second, hitting just 1-9 from behind the arc. Dewayne Pettus led Bethune-Cookman with 12 points.

The Wildcats took a 41-40 lead on the possession before the Bulldogs moved out to a 49-43 advantage with just over a minute left but two turnovers led to five B-CU points, including a Dewayne Pettus 3-pointer with 0:11 seconds left that closed the gap to 49-48.

Burton got two free throws with 0:05 seconds left to seat the 51-48 victory for the Bulldogs.

The Wildcats led 27-15 at the half and extended that to a 16-point lead with 19:18 left in the game. South Carolina State's largest lead was six with just 24 seconds left in the game.

The first-half was all Bethune-Cookman as the Wildcats pulled ahead by a count of 22-10 on a 3-pointer by senior guard Jimmy Hudson at the 5:31 mark. A tip-in by junior Kevan Creppy would give the wildcats a 24-10 edge with 2:34 left in the opening stanza.

A Robert Baker 3-pointer cut the Wildcats lead to 24-13 at 2:25 mark in the first-half. Bethune-Cookman Dominique Whatley's 3-pointer with 0:58 seconds would extend the lead and give the Wildcats a 27-15 lead at the break.

B-CU travels to Winston-Salem State on Monday night at 7:30 pm for a match-up with the Rams at the Lawrence Joel Coliseum Annex in Winston-Salem, N.C. In the only other meeting between these two teams, WSSU took last year's contest by a count of 56-48 at Moore Gym in Daytona Beach, Fla.