Box Score
HAMPTON, Va. — Michael Deloach (Rocky Mount, N.C.) scored a game-high 22 points, 14 in the second half, to help Norfolk State rally for its fifth straight win, 68-62, over rival Hampton in the Battle of the Bay at the HU Convocation Center on Saturday night.
NSU (7-11, 5-2 MEAC) rallied from a 15-point first-half deficit by holding the Pirates (10-10, 5-3) to 23 percent shooting and 24 points in the second half.
Deloach gave NSU its first lead of the night, 57-54, with a deep 3-pointer with 3:56 left. The Spartans still led by three, 61-58, when Hampton was called for a technical foul for having too many players on the floor with 54 seconds left. Corey Lyons (Bronx, N.Y.) hit both free throws to extend the lead to five.
Deloach put an exclamation point on the victory with a fast-break alley-oop slam off a pass from Aleek Pauline (Jamaica, N.Y.) with 25 seconds remaining.
The Spartans got off to a slow start as Hampton's defense forced them to miss 11 of their first 15 shots. The Pirates took their first double-digit lead at 21-10 on a 3-pointer by Kwame Morgan with 9:13 left in the first half. Hampton took its largest lead of the half five minutes later on a tip-in by Theo Smalling to make it 30-15.
But the Spartans used their full-court pressure defense to spark a 10-0 run, capped by an uncontested slam dunk by Kevin Worsley (Chesapeake, Va.), to get within 30-25.
But Morgan scored the last eight points of the half for the Pirates, who led 38-29 at the half. Morgan scored 15 points in the first half and was perfect from the floor (4-of-4), the 3-point line (3-of-3) and the foul line (4-of-4).
George DeGroat scored inside to give Hampton a 40-29 edge just 23 seconds into the second half, but the Spartans went on an 11-0 run, capped by a Pauline free throw, to tie the game at 40.
The Pirates responded with two DeGroat free throws and six straight Vincent Simpson points to go back up by eight.
But NSU remained composed and attacked the basket. NSU shot 32 free throws in the second half, making 20. Lyons was 12-of-15 from the foul line in the second half. Hampton, meanwhile, shot just 6-of-26 from the floor after halftime.
Lyons scored 17 points, hitting 14-of-17 from the free-throw line. Worsley added eight points and four rebounds off the bench. Deloach had four of the Spartans' nine steals, and Pauline had three.
Simpson had 17 points and Morgan 15 for the Pirates, who shot 32 percent, the lowest for an NSU opponent this season.
NSU travels to Washington, D.C. to face Howard on Monday night at 8 p.m.
