Tournament Notes

NORFOLK, Va. - The Spartans (1-2) make a trek west for their first in-season tournament of 2009 this holiday weekend. They are one of four teams in the Basketball Travelers Classic hosted by Illinois State. St. Bonaventure, Southeast Missouri State and ISU are the other participants.

NSU begins play in the round-robin event with a 7 p.m. Eastern (6 p.m. Central) tip-off against Illinois State on Friday night at Redbird Arena. The Spartans then face St. Bonaventure at approximately 9 p.m. ET on Saturday, then Southeast Missouri State at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday in the round-robin event.

The Spartans dropped to 1-2 on the young season with an 80-68 loss at Iona last Saturday in New Rochelle, N.Y. The Spartans shot 53 percent from the fl oor and had a season-high four players score in double fi gures, but could not overcome 22 turnovers and 13-of-28 (46 percent) shooting from the free-throw line. Rob Hampton (Queens, N.Y.) and Michael Deloach (Rocky Mount, N.C.) had 15 points apiece, and Joseph Dorsett-Jeffreys (Bronx, N.Y.) and Aleek Pauline (Jamaica, N.Y.) each added 13 for the Spartans.

Live statistics, audio and video are available through ISU's web site, www.goredbirds.com. The tournament page can be located here.