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NORFOLK, Va. — Junior Michael Deloach (Rocky Mount, N.C.) scored 22 of his career-high 24 points in the second half to lead host Norfolk State to an 82-76 win over North Carolina A&T in the MEAC opener for both on Saturday evening at Echols Hall.
Tony Murphy (Paterson, N.J.) added 20 points and Corey Lyons (Bronx, N.Y.)16 for the Spartans (2-4, 1-0 MEAC) who broke their four-game losing streak in their first home game of the season.
Deloach scored 10 straight Spartan points in a key second-half spurt. After a Steven Rush jumper put the Aggies ahead 62-59 with 9:48 left, Deloach responded with a three-point play to tie the game. Rush followed with two free throws to put A&T back ahead 64-62, but Deloach answered with a layup and his only 3-pointer of the night to give NSU the lead for good at 67-64 with 6:13 remaining.
The Aggies (4-4, 0-1) got within two, 78-76, on a 3-pointer by Austin Ewing with five seconds left. But Murphy hit two free throws at the other end to seal the win.
The Spartans led by as many as seven in the first half, 32-25, after a Murphy jumper with 3:06 remaining. But the Aggies got within 37-36 at halftime on a dunk by Thomas Coleman.
There were three lead changes in the first 10 minutes of the second half before Deloach's spark off the bench carried NSU to victory.
The Spartans shot 50 percent from the floor (28-of-56), 52 in the second half. NSU scored 24 points off 23 A&T turnovers. Larry Vickers (Virginia Beach, Va.) led the Spartans on the boards with 10, and he also had three blocks.
Rush had 16 points but was held to 4-of-13 shooting. He had 35 points and made nine 3-pointers in the teams' last meeting at Echols Hall in February. Coleman had 12 points and nine rebounds, and Jason Wills added 11 points and nine rebounds for the Aggies, who outrebounded NSU 41-28. The Aggies, though, shot just 41 percent (24-of-59) from the floor, 19 percent (3-of-16) from 3-point range.
NSU has next week off for exams before returning to action on Dec. 10 at Fairleigh Dickinson.
