Box Score ORANGEBURG, S.C. – #Malcolm Hawkins and Rob Johnson# combined for 41 points to lead the Norfolk State men's basketball team to a 78-72 victory over South Carolina State Monday night at the S-H-M Memorial Center.

The duo also combined for 12 points during a key 24-3 run that stretched for nearly nine minutes between the first and second halves. The Spartans (5-5, 2-0 MEAC) went up by 19, their largest lead of the game, before the Bulldogs slowly chipped away at the deficit.

S.C. State (4-3, 0-1) outscored NSU by a 22-5 margin after the Spartans took that 19-point advantage, cutting the Spartan lead to two, 54-52, with seven minutes left in the game. Johnson, who had 13 second-half points, responded with a wide-open trey from the right wing to spark an 11-1 run for the Spartans. NSU went up by 12 after that spurt, 65-53, with three and a half minutes left.

The Bulldogs had more fight in them still, getting to within four with 23.0 seconds to go when Darryl Palmer stepped back into a 3-pointer following an offensive board. The Spartans, though, went 5-of-6 from the free throw line to ice the win.

Palmer led the Bulldogs with 19 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks.

NSU won its third in a row and second straight conference game thanks to a 21-point effort from Hawkins and 20 from Johnson, both career highs. Johnson also tallied seven boards and three assists, while Hawkins added five boards, three assists and three steals. The duo shot a combined 12-of-26 from the field.

Junior #Brandon Goode# joined them in double figures with 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting with six boards. NSU hit 25-of-56 from the floor (44.6 percent) and held S.C. State to a 24-of-67 effort (35.8 percent).

Johnson's bucket just four seconds into play and a pair of 3-point plays from Hawkins and Goode gave the Spartans an early four-point lead to start the game. Hawkins drained a trey from the left corner, and junior #Kievyn Lila-St. Rose# found nothing but net on a 3-pointer from the right wing with 9:01 on the clock to put the Spartans back on top.

The Bulldogs scored six of the game's next eight points to take their fifth lead of the contest, 27-25, with 4:59 left in the half. Hawkins drove to the rim and got the favorable call, much to the chagrin of the home crowd, to complete a 3-point play and put NSU back on top, 28-27. Junior #Jordan Weathers# completed the and-1 on a fastbreak opportunity just 30 seconds later, and the Spartans started to find their offensive groove.

That Hawkins bucket and free throw began a 15-1 run for NSU to close out the half. The Bulldogs converted on just one field goal attempt in the last eight minutes of the half.

Hawkins had 14 points in the first stanza.

The Spartans scored nine of the first 11 points of the second half to extend the run to 24-3 over both halves before Shaquiell Mitchell sank a trey from the right corner. NSU called timeout after S.C. State scored seven straight, and a 3-pointer from Patrick Myers cut the Spartan lead to 11, 51-40, with 12:52 to go.

S.C. State then started a 12-0 run, the first eight of those points from the charity stripe, to cut NSU's advantage to the smallest of the half, 54-52, with 6:56 left. Johnson hit a wide open trey from the right wing to start an 11-1 run for the Spartans for a 65-53 lead. The Bulldogs fought back, and a floater from Adama Adams with 1:24 left cut the Spartan lead to eight, 68-60.

Palmer made it 70-64 with 57.0 seconds left with the putback on the front end miss at the free throw line. He grabbed an offensive board and stepped back into a 3 from the left corner to make it 73-69 with 23.0 seconds on the clock before the Spartans finished the win at the charity stripe.

Khalif Toombs and Adams also scored in double figures with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Freshman Rashid Gaston led the Spartans with nine boards.

NSU will return to Norfolk to play UMBC next Sunday at 4 p.m. at Joseph Echols Hall.