NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State men’s basketball team outscored U.Va.-Wise by 31 points in the second half on the way to an 88-49 victory on Monday night at Joseph Echols Hall.
Up by just eight at the half, NSU put on the jets in the second stanza, getting a combined 35 points from juniors RaShid Gaston and Jeff Short after halftime. Short ended the night with 27 points on 10-of-16 shooting with eight rebounds, while Gaston tallied 20 points on 10-of-15 field goals and 14 boards.
The 39-point margin of victory stands as the largest in the program’s Division I history, tipping the 38-point win over Pfeiffer earlier this year. It stands as the largest since a 50-points, 115-65 win over Knoxville College on Jan. 29, 1996.
Thanks to those big nights from Short and Gaston, the Spartans had two players reach the 20-point plateau for the third time in four games.
Oliver Thompson led the Cavaliers with 17 points, 14 of those in the first half. The Spartans were up by as much as 13 in that first part of the contest, but Thompson drained three 3-pointers in the last three minutes of the half to cut the Spartan lead to just eight at the break, 34-26.
RaShid Gaston tied his career high with 14 boards and posted his sixth double-double in the last seven games. He helped NSU finish with a 46-26 edge on the glass.
For the game, the Spartans connected on 35-of-65 (53.8 percent), while holding U.Va.-Wise to 19-of-58 shooting (32.8 percent). The Cavaliers shot 10-of-33 from 3-point range.
Junior D’Shon Taylor scored 13 points, while freshman Jordan Butler had career highs of 12 points and five rebounds. On the night, NSU finished with a 48-14 edge in points in the paint. The Spartans also outscored U.Va.-Wise 21-4 in points off turnovers and 15-2 in fastbreak points.
NSU had just nine turnovers overall, compared to 17 for the Cavaliers.
Senior Jamel Fuentes added nine assists, six points, six rebounds and three steals.
NSU will stay home for the week and then host Northern Arizona this Friday at 7 p.m. at Echols Hall.
Memphis rolls past North Carolina Central
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Memphis used its size and athleticism to dominate the defending Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champions, as the Tigers handed North Carolina Central University its worst loss in five seasons, beating the Eagles 81-47 inside FedExForum on Monday night.
The 34-point margin of defeat is the largest for NCCU since Feb. 17, 2011, when the Eagles fell at Coastal Carolina by a score of 94-59. Since then, NCCU had not lost by more than 20 points until Monday night at Memphis.
NCCU struggled mightily to find the shooting mark. The Eagles hit only 14-of-47 from the field (29.8 percent), including just 1-of-15 from three-point range (6.7 percent), which is the lowest three-point shooting performance since going 0-for-4 versus Southern University on Nov. 15, 2012.
Jeremiah Ingram came off the bench to score a team-high 11 points for NCCU (6-5, 2-0 MEAC), as the lone Eagle to reach double figures. Anthony McDonald, who entered the contest ranked fourth in the nation with 39 three-pointers made this season, missed all five of his three-point attempts, yet finished with nine points.
Memphis (4-4) was topped by Trahson Burrell with 15 points to lead three Tigers to score double digits.
MEAC Media Relations
