Bulldogs collect fifth victory

By By Tony Krausz / assistant sports editor
Dec. 4, 2003
STARKVILLE Mississippi State University overcame a sluggish start to claim its fifth win of the season Wednesday night.
The Bulldogs (5-0) used a 20-4 run in the opening eight minutes of the second half to propel themselves to a 76-52 victory over the University Louisiana-Monroe at Humphrey Coliseum.
It was MSU's third win in five days, as the team continues its break-neck pace of playing four games in an eight-day period.
Three of MSU's five starters scored in double figures in the game that the Bulldogs only led 37-31 at the break.
MSU center Marcus Campbell finished the game with 13 points, and forward Lawrence Roberts, who transferred from Baylor before the start of the season, collected his fourth double-double with the Bulldogs in the win.
The 6-foot-9 junior scored 14 points and pulled down 11 rebounds in the victory, after he scored seven points in the final 2 1/2 minutes of the first half. Including, his first three-pointer as a Bulldog with 27 seconds left to play in the opening half.
MSU started the second half clamping down on defense forcing ULM to turn the ball over on its first possession of the half.
Frazier turned the Indians' miscue into an easy break-away lay up to take a 39-31 lead just under 30 seconds into the half.
The Bulldogs limited the Indians to just eight points over the first 10 minutes of the final half, and ULM only mustered 19.5 shooting percentage in the game's final 20 minutes.
ULM center Tank Thompson was the only visiting player to finish in double digits scoring. Thompson tallied 10 points and 11 rebounds in the loss.
Indians guards Tony Helton and RoShon Jacobs were the next two highest scorers for ULM with seven points a piece.