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HAMPTON, Va. – Kyle O'Quinn's two-handed dunk with 31 seconds remaining gave Norfolk State the lead for good, and O'Quinn and Rob Johnson both hit two free throws in the final 11 seconds to clinch the Spartans' eighth straight win, 80-75, over Hampton on Saturday evening at the HU Convocation Center.

O'Quinn (22 points, 11 rebounds) and Johnson (career highs of 19 points, 15 rebounds) both tallied double-doubles for the Spartans (15-5, 7-0 MEAC), who continued their best-ever MEAC start and longest winning streak in 17 years. The Spartans also snapped a four-game losing streak to the Pirates (6-13, 2-4), who swept the season series last year and eliminated NSU from the MEAC Tournament in two straight seasons.

Hampton rode a torrid first-half shooting display to a 49-42 lead, and led for much of the see-saw second half until O'Quinn's flush with 30 seconds left. Neither team led by more than five points for the final 19 minutes of the game.

The Spartans took their first lead of the second half at 64-63 on the fifth and final 3-pointer of the night by Chris McEachin with 10:35 remaining in the game. But Hampton scored the next five points on a 3-pointer by Christopher Tolson and a layup by Wesley Dunning to reclaim the advantage at 68-64.

NSU still trailed by four, 75-71, after a pair of free throws by Darrion Pellum with 1:52 left. But McEachin was fouled on a 3-point attempt at the other end and calmly hit all three shots to cut the Pirates' lead to 75-74 with 1:26 left.

Tolson missed a trey on Hampton's next possession, and Johnson pulled down the rebound to give NSU possession. NSU worked the ball around to O'Quinn, who drop-stepped and spun past defender David Bruce before slamming home his 19th and 20th points for the Spartans' first lead in 10 minutes.

Bruce missed a layup on the ensuing possession, Johnson grabbed his 15th board of the night and hit two free throws with 11 seconds left. Pellum then missed a long-distance 3-pointer with a Rodney McCauley hand in his face. O'Quinn rebounded and hit two clinching foul shots to finish off the victory.

In a back-and-forth first half, NSU took a 34-32 lead on the third trey of the period by McEachin with 4:02 left before the intermission. But the Pirates hit their final eight shots before the break, five coming from 3-point range. Hampton scored 17 points in the final four minutes of the half and led 49-42 after the first stanza. Pellum capped the onslaught with a step-back 3-pointer from roughly 30 feet out just before the buzzer.

The Pirates shot 61 percent from the floor and 67 percent from long range (6-of-9) in the first 20 minutes.

NSU, however, held the Pirates to 31 percent shooting (9-of-29) in the second half. Pellum scored four points and hit just 1-of-6 from the floor after halftime.

Pellum led Hampton with 18 points, Tolson added 17 and Mike Tuitt 13 for the Pirates.

The Spartans, meanwhile, shot 52 percent from the floor for the game, 53 in the first half and 50 in the second.

In addition to the big nights from O'Quinn and Johnson, McEachin poured in 18 points off the bench. He hit five 3-pointers in a game for the third time this year. McCauley added eight points and hit two treys for NSU, which went 9-of-20 from 3-point range. Jamel Fuentes, Pendarvis Williams and Quasim Pugh combined for 10 assists.

The Spartans step out of conference to face defending Ohio Valley Conference champion Morehead State on Tuesday night. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. at Echols Hall.