Holman Leads Bulldogs To Win In Charleston Over UTEP

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) – Aric Holman scored 18 points, including a thunderous dunk with 5:22 left that put Mississippi State ahead for good in a 61-54 victory over UTEP to take fifth place at the Charleston Classic on Sunday.

The 6-foot-10 Holman made eight of his 10 shots, several of them jams, to keep the Bulldogs (3-1) in contention as leading scorer Quinndary Weatherspoon struggled with only nine points. After Holman’s go-ahead bucket put his team up 51-49, Mississippi State outscored the Miners (2-2) 10-5 the rest of the way to win their second straight game in the eight-team tournament.

Lamar Peters scored 13 points off the bench for Mississippi State.

Dominic Artis scored 15 points and Matt Willms had 12 points and 11 rebounds for UTEP. But the Miners lost their shooting touch in the second half, going just 7 of 26 from the field and missing their final four shots to lose two of their three tournament games.