Box Score NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State men's basketball team survived a scare from Virginia Union on Friday night, as the Spartans had just enough at the end to defeat the Panthers 92-84 in a battle of former CIAA foes at Joseph Echols Hall.

Virginia Union had the lead for more than nine minutes in the first half, but it looked as if the Spartans were going to pull away in the second after turning an eight-point halftime lead into a 16-point advantage.

The Panthers had other ideas, though, as they slowly trimmed the deficit down to zero and then went up by two at 80-78 with 4:43 left. After the Spartans called timeout, redshirt senior Malcolm Hawkins scored a pair of baskets 30 seconds apart to put NSU up by three.

The Spartans never gave the lead back in winning their 14th straight game at home.

Hawkins led all scorers with 25 points on 8-of-16 shooting to help NSU improve to 2-1 on the year.

Sophomore RaShid Gaston also had a big night, posting a double-double of 17 points and 14 rebounds with three blocks.

Omar Briggs led Virginia Union (0-3) with 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting while adding 13 rebounds.

Up by eight at the half, the Spartans made it double digits on their first possession, outscoring the Panthers 14-6 to start the second stanza. Senior Pendarvis Williams capped it with a trey, and then sank another 3-pointer from the left corner a little more than two minutes later to put an end to an 11-0 run by the Panthers.

An offensive putback by Gaston with 8:38 left still kept NSU up by eight, 74-66, but Virginia Union used a 14-4 run to go up by two before the Spartans sealed the win late.

Williams fell one rebound short of having the game's third double-double, but he did finish with 16 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two steals.

No other Spartan player had more than three rebounds, though, as both teams finished with 35 boards.

Virginia Union got off to a fast start, as NSU had to call timeout after a fastbreak bucket by Ray Anderson gave the Panthers an early 11-7 lead. They went up by as much as six on four different occasions, the last at 24-18 on a free throw by Avery Jirmnson. Hawkins hit a 3-pointer to get things going for the Spartans, and redshirt junior Jamel Fuentes gave them the lead when he found senior Jordan Weathers open on a nice cut to the basket at 6:42.

That bucket came during an 11-2 run for NSU that made it 36-31. The Spartans took a 43-38 lead after defenders collapsed on Gaston down low and Weathers was wide open in the left corner for a trey. NSU closed out the half on an 8-2 run to take an eight-point lead into the break despite having five forwards or post players with at least two fouls each.

Anderson and Jirmnson had 15 points each for a Panther offense that hit 30-of-64 (46.9 percent) for the game. NSU did even better, connecting on 30-of-57 shots (52.6 percent), including 9-of-21 from 3-point range.

Senior Brandon Goode had five blocks.

NSU will head to Durham, N.C., to take on East Carolina on Monday at 9:30 p.m., in the NIT Season Tip-Off at Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium.