DURHAM, North Carolina – The Norfolk State men's basketball team shot better than 57 percent from the field and committed just four turnovers in an 80-78 victory over UNC Asheville Tuesday night in the NIT Season Tip-Off at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Senior Brandon Goode scored a career-high 22 points on 11-of-15 shooting, including 12 straight points in the closing stretch of the game that prevented the Bulldogs from mounting a complete comeback. The Spartans held the lead throughout the entire second half, as well as most of the first, but NSU never got more than 10 points ahead of UNC Asheville at any point in the game.
Goode had seven boards, but as a team, NSU (3-2) was outrebounded 41-22. It was about the only blemish on the night for the Spartans, who hit 57.4 percent from the field on 31-of-54 shooting. Norfolk State had a 19-4 assist-turnover ratio as well.
It was a battle of big men throughout the second half, as Goode matched up with Asheville's D.J. Cunningham, who finished with 13 points and eight rebounds – all but one rebound in the second half – after sitting most of the first with two fouls.
Cunningham had six offensive boards, and UNC Asheville (1-4) had 21 rebounds on the offensive glass to give the Bulldogs a slight edge in second-chance points.
Malcolm Hawkins finished with 16 points, and the senior found his stroke early in the second half, giving NSU a 39-32 lead on a 4-point play and then swishing another 3-pointer from the right corner. Redshirt senior Anell Alexis hit a trey from the left key for NSU's only double-digit lead of the game, 49-39, but the Bulldogs used a 14-4 run to tie it up at 53-53 right after the under-12 media timeout.
The Spartans took the lead back on two quick buckets by Phelps, and Hawkins nailed a trey followed by a fastbreak bunny for a seven-point edge, 67-60, with 7:55 left. Goode scored 12 straight points for NSU late in the game to keep the Spartans in the lead, but after his last basket Andrew Rowsey sank a pair of free throws to cut NSU's lead to just one with 12.5 seconds left.
Junior LaTre'e Russell missed the front end of a 1-and-1 but got the offensive rebound and sank 1-of-2 with 9.8 seconds to go for a two-point edge. UNC Asheville had to call timeout with 0.7 seconds left after failing to get a shot off, and two straight inbound passes were unsuccessful as the Spartans held on.
Rowsey finished with 12 for the Bulldogs, who had five players in double figures. Sam Hughes had a team-high 16 points and eight rebounds.
Alexis also reached double figures for NSU with 13 and scored eight of the Spartans' first 10 points of the game for an early lead. Norfolk State had to call timeout with 10:57 on the clock when the Bulldogs tied it up at 15-15 on a dunk by Jaleel Roberts. The Spartans hit just one field goal in nine minutes of play before Russell finally ended the drought.
Norfolk State used a 9-2 run to go up by seven, 26-19, and Goode added another baseline jumper while junior Paulius Vinogradovas had a putback with 25 seconds left to give the Spartans a 32-27 lead at the half.
The teams combined for 99 points in the second half after totaling just 59 in the first. The Spartans hit 19-of-29 (65.5 percent) in the second half.
Redshirt junior Jamel Fuentes finished with nine points and eight assists.
UNC Asheville shot 26-of-58 (44.8 percent) on the night.
NSU will continue play in the NIT Season Tip-Off next Monday and Tuesday at a yet-to-be-determined location.
Box Score
By Mike Bello, Asst. SID
COURTESY NORFOLK STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION
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