Garden City Basketball Classic: SCSU sweeps reborn Classic

Orangeburg, South Carolina - The surreal scene around Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center spoke for itself Friday.

Cars filled the parking spaces both outside the gymnasium and stretching all along the fences adjacent to the football practice field. Posted on the entrance door window was a white paper with the words "Sold Out" while streaming fans from South Carolina State and Claflin brimmed with excitement and anticipation as they filled the 3,100-plus gymnasium seats.

After a 10-year hiatus, the Garden City Basketball Classic was welcomed back with open arms. While the public response pleased organizers, it was S.C. State which came away all smiles as the men's and women's teams swept Claflin to earn college bragging rights in Orangeburg and season-opening victories.

The Lady Bulldogs opened the doubleheader with a 76-59 victory, while the Bulldogs pulled away in the second half with a 70-53 win over the Panthers.

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Morris: Glory days return in Orangeburg

Coach Buddy Pough Bulldog teams are 76-29
 with a MEAC record of 58-13 over the past 10 seasons.

Orangeburg, SC - When Buddy Pough returned to his hometown of Orangeburg and his alma mater of South Carolina State 10 years ago, there was little promise that the football program would return to its glory days of the 1970s and ’80s.

A decade later and S.C. State again is the king of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. A dynasty has been born again. If there is one college football constant in the state of South Carolina, it is the success of S.C. State.

Of course, Pough does not want to hear any of that talk. “Sometimes I think we should have done more,” he said. “That’s kind of what drives you. You’re always trying to make that next step.”

In the 18 seasons before Pough’s arrival, S.C. State had managed to win one MEAC championship, in 1994. One title in nearly two decades. Under Pough’s guidance, S.C. State has won outright conference crowns in 2008 and ’09 and shared titles in 2004 and ’10.

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CMU opens season with a victory over South Carolina State

Mount Pleasant, MI - There are plenty of labels or mottos that can be used to describe the 2011 season opener for the Central Michigan football team. But, really, all of that is just sugarcoating what can be labeled an ugly win.

Still, for a team looking to separate itself from its 3-9 record in 2010, the Chippewas will take a win any way they can. On Thursday, it came in the form of a 21-6 win over Football Championship Subdivision opponent, South Carolina State, at Kelly/Shorts Stadium.

“It was a win,” CMU coach Dan Enos said. “We didn’t play that well at times but we did what we had to do to win.” Coming into the season, Enos was hopeful to see the Chippewas (1-0) improve on their rushing offense and turnover margin.

Neither of those made a drastic step forward as CMU amassed just 88 rushing yards and lost the turnover battle 2-0, on a pair of Ryan Radcliff interceptions.The game lacked many big plays, as 20 punts were kicked in the contest and 15 possessions lasted just three plays or less.

Things started quickly for CMU, as the Chippewas scored on the opening possession, just four plays into the game. Radcliff used a play action fake and then hit junior Cody Wilson on a 45-yard touchdown pass that put CMU up 7-0 less than two minutes into the game.

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