HOUSTON -- Jalen White and Edward Stephens -- a sophomore and a frosh -- were the young guns scoring 17 and 19 points, respectively, as South Carolina State defeated Houston 71-63 Saturday.

Midway through the second half of a tight game White scored, then dished to Karon Wright for a 3-pointer and followed with a layup and two free throws as SC State (4-8) put some distance on Houston, stretching the lead to seven. The Cougars (5-3) closed to 67-61 with 1:12 left when L.J. Rose hit a jumper but Darryl Palmer -with eight blocks for SC State -- rejected Rose's next shot with 44 seconds to go.

Danrad Knowles led Houston with 22 points and 11 rebounds, Rose scoring 14.

Palmer added 10 points and 13 boards for SC State.

The game was a regional final in the eight-team Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic, which moves to Las Vegas on Monday.