NORFOLK, Va. — Monte’ Anthony (Winston-Salem, N.C.) had season highs of 26 carries for 132 yards and one touchdown, and Casey Hansen (Corona, Calif.) passed for 229 yards and two touchdowns to help Norfolk State snap a six-game losing streak on Senior Day with a 31-14 win over Winston-Salem State Saturday at Dick Price Stadium.

NSU (4-7) broke open a 14-all halftime tie by scoring the game’s final 17 points to put away the Rams (4-7).

Anthony tallied his fifth career 100-yard game and third of the season in his final game as a Spartan. Hansen, meanwhile, eclipsed the 2,000 yard mark for the season in the second quarter and finished the 2006 season with 2,166 yards, the third-highest single-season total in school history. Hansen’s is NSU’s first 2,000 yard passer since Robert Morris in 1997, and posted the highest passing total for a Spartan quarterback since Aaron Sparrow’s 3,434 yards in 1995.

The game started inauspiciously for NSU. On the Spartans’ first play from scrimmage, Hansen was intercepted by DeRon Middleton, who returned it 39 yards for a WSSU touchdown with 11:31 left in the opening quarter.

NSU responded with two second-quarter touchdowns to claim a short-lived lead. Cornerback Dustin Johnson (Hampton, Va.) got the scoring started for NSU when he recovered a muffed punt by the Rams’ David Irizarry in the end zone, knotting the game at 7-all with  8:15 left in the half. The Spartans took a 14-7 lead when Hansen found senior Errol Henry (Washington, D.C.) for a 16-yard TD pass with 2:16 remaining in the second quarter. Henry’s first career TD capped a four-play, 74-yard drive which also included a 46-yard pass from Hansen to James Callaham (Virginia Beach, Va.).

But the Rams responded with a seven-play, 68-yard drive just before the half to tie the game at 14. Quarterback Monte Purvis capped the drive with an 8-yard TD pass to Brent Thomas with 26 seconds left in the half.

After struggling to finish close out games in recent weeks, the Spartans flourished in the second half. NSU took the opening kickoff in the third quarter and marched 74 yards in 12 plays, with Anthony scoring from 3 yards out for a 21-14 NSU lead with 9:02 left in the third.

On NSU’s next possession, Hansen found another senior, Emery Sammons (Willingboro, N.J.), for a 71-yard TD pass, the team’s longest offensive play of the year. That put NSU ahead 28-14 with 2:11 left in the third quarter.

NSU capped the scoring on a 21-yard field goal by freshman Justin Castellat (Virginia Beach, Va.) with 12:41 left in the fourth quarter. It was Castellat’s first career field goal. He was also 4-of-4 on extra points in his first kicking duty of the season.

NSU posted 31 points and 375 yards of total offense against a Rams team that had allowed 31 points in the last five games. Not to be outdone, the Spartan defense allowed a season-low seven points and forced three turnovers, including an interception in the end zone by Terrell Whitehead (Virginia Beach, Va.) to thwart one WSSU scoring drive in the fourth quarter. Linebacker Maguell Davis (Newport News, Va.) had 12 tackles and a sack, and fellow linebacker Brandon Sawyer (Virginia Beach, Va.) had six tackles, 2.5 for losses.

Roderick Fluellen led the Rams with 64 yards rushing on nine carries. Nathaniel Biggs had 10 tackles for WSSU.