WASHINGTON, D.C. – Al’Davon Thomas (Paterson, N.J.) hit a free throw with two seconds left to help Norfolk State secure a 65-64 win over Howard on Saturday at Burr Gymnasium.
Howard guard Louis Ford’s three-point play with 12 seconds left capped a 22-point second-half Bison rally and tied the game at 64-all. But Thomas drove into the lane at the other end, drew the foul and made the first free throw. He missed the second, and a halfcourt heave from Howard’s Will Gant bounced of the backboard and the back of the rim as the Spartans (7-13, 6-4 MEAC) escaped.
The game mirrored the earlier meeting between the two, when the Spartans jumped out to a large early lead but needed last-second heroics to stymie a Howard rally. NSU outrebounded Howard (2-19, 1-9) 25-6 in the first half and held the Bison to 28 percent shooting to take a 29-17 lead into the half.
Calvin Brown (Mitchellville, Md.) scored eight of his team-high 17 points in a 17-7 Spartan run to start the second half, and Jakeel Gary (Linden, N.J.) scored inside to give NSU its largest lead of the game, 46-24, with 14:47 left.
As they did in an 82-79 loss in Norfolk on Jan. 7, the Bison rallied behind an attacking offense. Daryl Hudson, who had 18 points (15 from the foul line) in the earlier meeting, scored 19 of his game-high 23 points in the second half on Saturday. He was 11-of-13 from the free-throw line, all in the second half, and the Bison connected on 50 percent of their second-half field goals to rally.
Ford, who had 12 points, capped the rally with a driving layup, drew a foul and made the foul shot to tie the game before Thomas saved the Spartans.
Brown and Karandick Ogunride (Baton Rouge, La.) had eight rebounds apiece to help NSU top Howard 41-26 on the boards. Brian Faulcon (Chesapeake, Va.) gave the Spartans a spark off the bench, scoring a season-high 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting. Tony Murphy (Paterson, N.J.) added 10 points.
Eugene Myatt chipped in with 11 points and Gant had 10 for Howard, which was 17-of-20 from the foul line (85 percent), 16-of-18 in the second half.
The Spartans look to make it two in a row on Monday, when they travel to Maryland-Eastern Shore for a 7:30 p.m. game.
