SCSU tries to stay unbeaten at home
By Special to The T&DThursday, December 21, 2006The South Carolina State men’s basketball team will once again look to “Defend Our House” tonight when it plays host to UNC-Asheville at 7 p.m. at the Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center.
The non-conference game will feature the battle of the Bulldogs and is the first meeting between the two programs since they met three times during the 1972-73 season. SCSU and UNCA split the two regular-season meetings before the Bulldogs of Orangeburg prevailed in the rubber match 87-78 in the finals of the District Six championship.
SCSU head coach Jamal Brown’s Bulldogs (2-7) will be trying for their third win of the season and a 3-0 start at S-H-M.ˇ UNCA (4-7), who have college basketball’s tallest player in 7-6 center Kenny George and another seven-footer in C.J. Walker on their roster, will be trying for just their second road win of the season.
Coach Eddie Biedenbach’s team enters the game after suffering back-to-back losses at East Tennessee State on Tuesday and at nationally-ranked North Carolina last Saturday. The visiting Bulldogs will be led by guard Bryan Smithson (16.4 ppg), who has scored in double figures in all 11 games this season, forward Vincent James (11 ppg) and guard K.J. Garland (10.3 ppg).
“South Carolina State has a great tradition and is a good team once again this year,” Biedenbach said. “Forget what their overall record is right now because like us, they play a very tough non-conference schedule. They have some very talented players, and we’re going to have play much better than we did at East Tennessee State to have any kind of chance to win at South Carolina State.”
Brown’s Bulldogs, coming off a 74-57 loss at Old Dominion on Saturday, will be spearheaded by guard Travis Jones (14.8 ppg) and forward Brian Mason (10.1 ppg, 4.8 rpg), both seniors, and junior guard Derrick Davis (9.4 ppg, 3.3 apg).
Ticket prices are $6 for reserved seats, $3 for general admission and free to students with ID and all youths 17-and under. Following Thursday’s contest, the Bulldogs will be idle until after the holiday break when they travel to Rutgers for a 1 p.m. New Year’s Eve contest.
