Game Notes
NORFOLK, Va. - The Norfolk State men's basketball team embarks on its last regular-season road trip of 2010-11 and plays its final non-conference game of the season on Saturday at North Carolina Central. Tip-off is at 4 p.m. at McDougald-McLendon Gymnasium in Durham, N.C.
The teams already met earlier this year, with NSU taking a 74-71 win on Jan. 22. The Spartans (8-16)snapped their three-game losing streak and moved back to .500 in MEAC play with a 76-68 win over Howard on Monday. Rob Hampton scored 21 points, while Kyle O'Quinn had 20 points and 15 rebounds for NSU.
The Eagles have won five of their last eight contests. NCCU lost 94-59 to Coastal Carolina on Thursday night, which came on the heels of a thrilling 77-75 victory over Coppin State. Nick Chasten's tip-in at the buzzer broke a 75-all tie. C.J. Wilkerson had 21 points, Landon Clement 19 and Chasten 16 in the win over CSU.
MEDIA COVERAGE
Radio: WNSB 91.1 FM (Play-by-Play: Ross Gordon)
Live Audio Stream: http://mmedia.nsu.edu:8089/wnsb
SERIES NOTES
The Spartans lead the series with North Carolina Central 27-7, including a 74-71 victory in Norfolk on Jan. 22. The Spartans are 2-0 against the Eagles since NSU moved to Division I in 1997-98. NCCU's last win in the series came on Feb. 22, 1997.
HOWARD TIP-INS
Some additional notes from NSU's win over Howard on Monday:
• Rob Hampton led NSU in scoring for the fi rst time since Jan. 17, when he had 23 points - also against Howard. It was his fi rst time scoring 15 points or more since that date.
• Kyle O'Quinn's streak of consecutive games with a double-double reached fi ve, as he tallied 20 points and 15 rebounds. He has seven double-doubles in his last eight games, and 13 total this year.
• Chris McEachin returned following a three-game absence due to a concussion. He played 17 minutes and tallied three points, four rebounds and two assists.
• The Spartans blocked a season-high 10 shots, half of them from O'Quinn. Pendarvis Williams and
Tim Zephyr added two each.
LAST MEETING
In the two teams' last meeting, Chris McEachin scored 18 points and Kyle O'Quinn had 13 points and 12 rebounds as NSU beat N.C. Central 74-71 on Jan. 22 in Norfolk. McEachin hit five 3-pointers, four coming in a torrid first-half long-range display for the Spartans. NSU hit seven of its eight 3-pointers in the first half.
NCCU led 12-9 after a free throw by Dijon Manns with 13:31 left in the half. But NSU went on a 19-2 run that featured four treys, three by McEachin, to take a commanding 28-14 lead. O'Quinn capped the burst with a traditional three-point play, throwing down a two-handed dunk and making the ensuing free throw.
The Spartans would extend their lead to 17, 63-46, after two O'Quinn free throws with 7:33 left. But the Eagles held NSU to one fi eld goal for the remainder of the game and slowly rallied behind their pressure defense and the scoring of guards C.J. Wilkerson (game-high 30 points) and Landon Clement (19). Wilkerson missed everything on his 3-point attempt from the left corner, and NCCU had to settle for a Jonathan Nicely stick-back with 1.3 seconds left to get within 72-71.
NSU guard Pendarvis Williams hit two free throws to make it 74-71 with 0.7 seconds left, and Wilkerson missed a half-court heave at the buzzer as the Spartans escaped.
Rob Hampton added 14 points and Aleek Pauline 11 for NSU, which shot 47.7 percent from the floor. O'Quinn added a season-high-tying six blocks.
O'QUINN AMONG NATIONAL LEADERS
Junior center Kyle O'Quinn reached double figures in rebounds in eight of his last nine games and now is tied for 13th in the nation this year in that department. He has been ranked as high as seventh this year. His 10.7 average also ranks second in the MEAC behind the 11.0 average of N.C. A&T's Thomas Coleman.
O'Quinn also ranks eighth nationally with 3.1 blocks per game, good for second in the conference. His 13 double-doubles are second-most in the MEAC.
RECORD-SETTING SPARTANS
Kyle O'Quinn, the MEAC's No. 2 shot blocker at 3.1 per game, broke Steve Gilbert's single-season school blocks record of 63 by swatting two shots at UMES. O'Quinn's growing record now stands at 75.
Aleek Pauline also snapped Chakowby Hicks' Division I-era career assists record vs. Howard. Pauline had five assists in the win against the Bison, giving him 326 over his three years at NSU. Hicks had 322 from 2001-05. Pauline is also on pace to break his own single-season Division I assist record of 117 set during his sophomore season of 2008-09. He has 115 this year.
