Powered by a second-half comeback led by forward Dom Campbell’s 18 points off the bench and some untimely SCSU miscues, Howard was able to defeat South Carolina State 82-78.
The Bison got off to a quick start, building an early 14-4 lead at 12:43 left in the first half. South Carolina State fought their way back over the subsequent six minutes, outscoring the Bison 12-2 over that span.
After a Bryce Harris’ layup that put Howard in front 18-16, a Wilson Dubinsky 3-pointer gave SCSU a 20-18 advantage. South Carolina State then outscored Howard 10-5 over the final 5:15 of the first half to take a 30-23 lead into halftime.
The offenses for both teams were locked in the second half, with Howard shooting a white-hot 81% from the field and 72.7% from three, while South Carolina was also on fire connecting on 60% of their field goal attempts and 63.6% from 3-point range.
🏀 | BISON WIN! @HUMensBB holds off the Bulldogs 82-78 for their first conference win!
4⃣ Bison hit double-digits. Junior Bryce Harris led the charge with 19 points and 7 rebounds.
Next up, the Bison host UMES on January 13th at 4 PM.#BleedBlue pic.twitter.com/MdvuAqBJgN
— Howard Athletics (@HUBisonSports) January 9, 2024
Even with their offense being locked in, Howard spent most of the second half playing from behind, taking their first lead of the half on a Marcus Dockery 3-pointer that put the Bison up 47-46 with 13:10 left in the contest. The Bison then briefly took the lead at 49-48 seconds later.
After a Dockery jumper tied the game at 51, South Carolina reclaimed the lead 54-41 on RaQuan Brown’s three-pointer at the 11:02 mark.
The Bulldogs seemed to be in a position to claim victory after Mitchell Taylor’s layup put SCSU up 77-72 with 1:48 to go in the game. However, three Bulldogs turnovers allowed Howard to tie the game at 77 on a Harris layup and took the lead for good at 79-77 on a pair of Don Campbell free throws.
Bryce Harris led four Howard scorers in double figures with 19 points and 7 rebounds. Dom Campbell put in 18 points and seven rebounds. Seth Towns added 17 and dished out five assists, and Marcus Dockery contributed 15 points.
In a losing effort, Mitchell Taylor paced South Carolina State with 18 points. Atiba Taylor scored 13 points, and Wilson Dubinsky chipped in 10 points.
