The Hornets Provide an Upsetting Sting to the Bulldogs in the MEAC Tournament

Delaware State Guard Deywilk Tavarez (0) and forward Wesley Oba (15) excited as they outscore the South Carolina State Bulldogs in the second half.  Photo Credit:  Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC)

By Wole Akinso

(@Wole_USS)

Norfolk, VA— In arguably the most exciting game of the MEAC Men’s Basketball Tournament, six-seed Delaware State upset the three-seed South Carolina State, 71-58 to advance to the semifinals. 

Initially, South Carolina State had all the momentum.  Delaware State’s leading scorer Martaz Robinson picked up his second personal foul and was subbed out at the 16:13 mark.  South Carolina State took advantage of that situation by pushing a 9-9 tie to a 23-13 South Carolina State lead before Robinson returned into the game.  Robinson’s teammates supported him while he was dealing with foul trouble.

“I kind of got frustrated with the second foul.  They just told me to keep my head focus and stay on the path and I’ll be good,” said Robinson.

The South Carolina State Bulldogs were playing a solid unselfish brand of basketball in the first half.  They had five players with four or more points in the half and the Bulldogs were 7 of 16 from three-point range. Their stingy defense held the Hornets to a 27.6 percent field goal percentage, and they forced defended the three-point line—Hornets shot 0 of 9 from the three-point line. 

All of this resulted in the Bulldogs taking a 36-27 lead into halftime.  Hornets coach Stan Waterman gave his kids this message at halftime, “It started and ended for us on the defensive end.”

The Hornets turned up the defensive tempo, led by point guard Deywilk Tavarez.  Tavaras was a menace on the defensive side of the basketball court.  He had five steals, all in the second half.  Delaware State went on a 12-0 run, giving them a 39-36 lead.  They held the Bulldogs scoreless until the 13-minute mark of the second half.  Tavarez talked about picking up the intensity on defense.

“Defense is something that I wouldn’t say is my main priority during the season, but I knew coming into the tournament you don’t know if you going to see another day.  Nobody wants the season to be over.  So I knew I had to pick up and it starts with me as the point guard.  So, once I picked it up, the whole team picked it up.”

Tavarez lead the team in scoring with 29 points and Robinson pitched in with 22 points.  The Hornets outscored the Bulldogs 44-22 in the second half.  South Carolina State led the MEAC in rebounding.  However, the smaller Hornets outrebounded the bigger Bulldogs, 43-33.  They’ll need this same grit when they take on the North Carolina Central Eagles, Friday at 8 pm ET.