No 'I' in 'NSU': Spartans play, and win, as one

HAMPTON, Virginia -- "Unity," Rob Johnson said Saturday night after another victory on the road for Norfolk State's basketball team. "You can't fake that." Escaping with the 80-75 victory, the Spartans have won three consecutive games away from home. It keeps their MEAC record spotless. But just as importantly, according to Johnson, it strengthens their confidence in one another.

"When everybody wants to win as a team, from man one to 15, you can do anything," he said. Without Johnson's best game as a Spartan, Norfolk State's short trip over the water would have been far less harmonious. His 19 points and 15 rebounds were career highs, including the two years the 6-foot-7 junior spent at Marist.  "It was his time to break out," coach Anthony Evans said. "He picked a good night."

With both teams failing to take care of the ball, it was a wild night of back-and-forth basketball. Wide open and sometimes sloppy, but never dull.  Johnson kept Norfolk State in it with his shooting - 8 for 13 - before the Spartans' defense cooled off Hampton's shooters in the second half.

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