Practice does indeed make perfect. During South Carolina State's 12-day hiatus, head coach Ben Betts, the coaching staff and players spent the idle time honing the team's halfcourt offensive and defensive execution.

The inordinate attention to detail paid proved beneficial Tuesday night as a sharp SCSU dominated The Citadel 65-51 in earning just its third victory in 10 meetings in the 24-year-old series.

Forced to play its "home-opener" at Claflin University's Tullis Arena with ongoing ceiling repairs to the Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center, SCSU quickly made themselves at home early by jumping out to a 16-3 advantage and maintaining a double-digit lead for most of the second half.

In handing the slumping Cadets (2-5) their fifth consecutive loss, the Bulldogs of Orangeburg held the opposition to 35.7 field-goal shooting percentage and 7-25 from three-point range, forced 22 turnovers and collected 13 steals.

Offensively, SCSU got balanced scoring in the form of four players scoring in double figures. Forward Thurman Zimmerman had a solid all-around game with 16 points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals, while guards Brandon Trapp and Shawn Wiggins provided the firepower from outside with 14 and 12 points, respectively.

SCSU newcomer Brian Mason matched Zimmerman's game-high point total and also posted a double-double with 10 rebounds. The 6-5 freshman forward from Dominica also sent the close to 1,000 fans inside the Tullis Arena home in a frenzy with a jaw-dropping, one-handed slam dunk off a high pass from Demeco Heath with 1:38 remaining, which gave SCSU its biggest lead of 17 points and was reminiscent of Grant Hill's memorable slam in the 1991 NCAA Tournament finals.

"I just didn't know when I would bring it out yet, but was just saving it for a special moment" said Mason, who attended Laurinburg Institute last season.

While the defense held the Cadets to just one field goal though the first six minutes and forced 12 first-half turnovers , SCSU found success early offensively in connecting on four, three-pointers and using Zimmerman outside the paint to set up points inside for Mason.

"The thing with Thurman is that he has a lot of qualities and one of those qualities is that he can pass the basketball," Betts said. "He's probably one of our best ball-handlers. He can catch the ball and face up. He can find guys cutting under the basket...so we try to use him to our advantage by having him play in the middle. It takes away a little bit from scoring, but it worked out for the better."

Zimmerman's a man," said The Citadel head coach Pat Dennis, who remains one win shy of becoming the school's winningest head coach at 132. "Zimmerman should be playing for South Carolina or Clemson. He's a high-major college player."

The Citadel responded with three of their own behind the arc, two by Kevin Hammock who scored all of his team-high 10 points in the first half, during a 17-4 run to cut the deficit to 22-20 with 5:49 remaining in the first half. At one point, the Cadets scored 10 unanswered points as SCSU missed nine consecutive shots and committed three of its six first-half turnovers.

After both teams went scoreless for close to two minutes, SCSU regained control with a Mason dunk off a Wiggins steals and three-pointer by Wiggins to go up 27-20. The Bulldogs of Orangeburg maintained their seven-point lead at halftime in finishing the first half shooting 40 percent from the field and 4-8 from three-point range.

A three-pointer by The Citadel's Terry cut SCSU's lead to 35-31. Instead of withering, the Bulldogs of Orangeburg answered with even bigger resolve as they mounted a 10-2 run to go up 49-37. It started with a short jumper by Zimmerman, followed by a three-pointer by Trapp, then another Zimmerman layup and capped by a three-point play by Maurice Hoover.

As The Citadel's three-point attempts kept missing its mark and went primarily with freshman in the second half, SCSU capitalized by increasing its lead to 57-41 with five minutes left in the game. Down the stretch, the Bulldogs of Orangeburg converted 8-10 free throws to maintain their margin and allow Mason to put the punctuation mark on the victory with his spectacular slam.

Repairs to S-H-M should be completed in time for SCSU's next home game against Longwood College out of Virginia.

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