South Carolina St. beats Coppin St. in MEAC quarters 90-80

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) Eric Eaves scored 21 points with eight rebounds, and Tashombe Riley added 18 points and eight boards to help No. 3 seed South Carolina State beat 11th-seeded Coppin State 90-80 in the quarterfinals of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament Thursday.

Greg Mortimer and Gabe McCray scored 13 points apiece, while Ed Stephens had 10 for South Carolina State, which will face second-seeded Norfolk State (17-15) in the semifinals Friday.

The Bulldogs made 23 of 37 (62.2 percent) field-goal attempts, including four 3-pointers, in the first half and took a 59-43 lead into the break.

S.C. State (18-13) cooled off in the second half, shooting just 32 percent, but made 12 of 16 free throws to keep Coppin State (9-22) from creeping back into the game.

Josh Treadwell led the Eagles with 23 points, including a career-high tying five 3s. Christian Kessee scored 13 points and Keith Shivers added 11.