GAME NOTES: Losers of seven in a row, the Norfolk State Spartans give it another shot this evening as they contend against the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders as part of the second round of the Basketball Travelers Tip-Off Tournament at JQH Arena in Springfield, Missouri.
Norfolk State won its season opener against Longwood on the road, but since then the team has failed to make it back into the win column. Saturday saw the squad bow to Missouri State in the first round of this event by a score of 75-66. As for the Blue Raiders, they managed to snap a brief two-game slide yesterday with a 65-52 win over UC Irvine, evening the team's overall record at 5-5 in the process. Meeting for the first time on the hardwood, both Middle Tennessee and Norfolk State will be back in action on Monday as they swap partners with UC Irvine and Missouri State again to close out the tournament.
Corey Lyons scored a career-high 32 points, shooting 11-of-23 from the field and 7-of-14 behind the three-point line on Saturday night, but even his efforts were not enough to earn the Spartans a victory. Also having a strong scoring game was Michael Deloach with 24 points, but he needed 9-of-24 shooting from the floor in order to pull it off. Brandon Monroe accounted for a team-best nine rebounds, but he failed to score a single point for a team that turned the ball over 21 times. Even with the offensive burst, Lyons is still averaging just 13.8 ppg while shooting 34.3 percent from the floor. Deloach has become one of the top scorers in the MEAC this year with his 20.8 ppg, and he is pulling down almost five and a half rebounds per game while ranking second in the assists department with 18 over eight games.
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