Croskey's 30 lead No. 2 South Carolina State over No. 6 North Carolina Central in MEAC semi, 88-67

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — Omar Croskey's 30 points led No. 2-seed South Carolina State past No. 6-seed North Carolina Central 88-67 on Friday in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals.

South Carolina State will battle top-seeded Norfolk State in Saturday's conference championship game.

Croskey had five rebounds for the Bulldogs (20-12). Davion Everett scored 16 points, shooting 7 of 11 from the field and 2 for 3 from the line. Colin McKenzie went 4 of 5 from the field (4 for 4 from 3-point range) to finish with 14 points. The Bulldogs picked up their ninth straight victory.

Perry Smith Jr. led the Eagles (14-19) in scoring, finishing with 20 points and nine rebounds. North Carolina Central also got 18 points and two steals from Po'Boigh King. Keishon Porter also recorded 11 points and three steals.

South Carolina State took the lead with 18:29 remaining in the first half and did not relinquish it. Croskey led his team in scoring with 19 points in the first half to help put them up 54-25 at the break. South Carolina State was outscored by North Carolina Central in the second half by eight points, with Croskey scoring a team-high 11 points after the break.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.