Box Score

NORFOLK, Va. – Senior guard Rob Hampton (Queens, N.Y.) scored a career-high 26 points to lift Norfolk State to a 70-53 win over Jacksonville State on Tuesday night in the Spartans' home opener at Echols Hall.

With the game tied 30-all at the half, the Spartans (1-1) turned in a complete second-half effort on both ends of the floor to pull away from the Gamecocks (1-1). After JSU shot 52 percent from the floor in the first half, the Spartans held the Gamecocks to 29 percent after the intermission.

NSU center Kyle O'Quinn (Jamaica, N.Y.) scored NSU's first two buckets out of halftime to give the Spartans the lead. Two free throws by Nick Murphy brought JSU within 36-34, but the Spartans went on a 19-5 run over next seven minutes to build a 16-point lead. Hampton had nine points in the spurt. Hampton, Brandon Wheeless (Stone Mountain, Ga.) and Aleek Pauline (Far Rockaway, N.Y.) each hit key 3-pointers in the run.

Wheeless, who had 11 of his 13 points in the second half, hit a short jumper with just less than three minutes left to give the Spartans their largest lead, 70-49.

Hampton finished 8-of-14 from the floor, 2-of-4 from behind the arc, and 8-of-11 from the free-throw line. He also handed out a game-high four assists. O'Quinn had nine points, a game-high 15 rebounds, and three blocked shots.

The Spartans shot 47 percent from the floor for the game while holding JSU to 40 percent.

Murphy had 18 points to pace the Gamecocks. Stephen Hall added 13 points, all in the first half.

The Spartans hit the road for a 4 p.m. game Saturday at St. Joe's in their first game in the Philly Hoop Group Classic. The round-robin event also includes games at Rutgers and versus Fairfield next week.