Courtesy of SC State Athletics
CINCINNATI – Senior HBCU basketball guard Omar Croskey tossed in a team-high 16 points but South Carolina State fell short in knocking off No. 22-ranked Xavier Sunday (Dec. 1) afternoon inside Cintas Center.
South Carolina State falls to 4-5 overall, while Xavier improves to 7-1 on the season.
The Bulldogs will return to action on home Thursday (Dec. 5) in a non-conference matchup with Samford inside Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center in a 7 p.m. start.
BULLDOG NOTEABLES
- Croskey led his HBCU with a team-high 16 points and four rebounds in 20 minutes of play.
- Senior guard Michael Teal added 14 points, while teammate Mitchell Taylor chipped in 11 points, four rebounds, five assists, and two steals.
- The two teams traded leads early, with the Musketeers leading by as many as six after back-to-back threes. South Carolina State went on a 13-0 run to lead by seven, 18-11, with 10:31 to play in the first half before Xavier outscored the Bulldogs 21-5 over the next nine minutes to lead by as many as 10 in the final minute of the first half before going into the breakup six, 32-26.
- The Bulldogs outscored the Musketeers 14-5 over the next seven minutes to tie the game at 40-40. Xavier went on an 18-5 run to take a 13-point lead, the Musketeers’ largest of the game, into the final five minutes of the game.
- SC State used a 12-0 run to pull within one, keeping within two possessions for the rest of the game, but the Musketeers went 6-of-6 from the free throw line in the final 15 seconds.
- The Musketeers finished shooting 45.5 percent for the game with the Bulldogs connecting on 42.6 percent overall, but South Carolina State connected on 51.7 percent of its shots in the second half compared to Xavier’s 45 percent shooting after the break.
- The Bulldogs finished with a 32-29 advantage on rebounds, with Xavier holding a 24-22 advantage on the defensive glass, and SC State holding a 10-5 lead on the offensive boards.
- Xavier had 16 turnovers to 18 for South Carolina State, but the Bulldogs were able to outscore the Musketeers, 24-16, in points off miscues.
- The Bulldogs had a 45-14 advantage on bench points.