Sunday
UMBC at NSU, 4 p.m., Joseph Echols Hall
Faith and Family Day
Radio: WNSB Hot 91.1 Online | Live Audio
Live Video | Live Stats | Game Notes
NORFOLK, Va. - Riding a three-game win streak and returning home following a pair of road games in conference play, the Norfolk State men's basketball team will play only its second home contest in the first 16 games of the season Sunday against UMBC at 4 p.m. at Joseph Echols Hall.
The game will serve as Faith and Family Day. Groups of 20 or more members can get a discounted rate of $5 per ticket when presenting the designated flyer.
Media Coverage: The game against the Retrievers can be heard on WNSB Hot 91.1 online, available at hot91online.com, with Ross Gordon on the call. Live stats and a live video stream will also be available. The video feed will also carry Gordon's play-by-play commentary with it.
Last Time Out: NSU got career highs in points from the trio of Rob Johnson, Malcolm Hawkins and Brandon Goode to take down South Carolina State by a 78-72 margin on Monday in Orangeburg, S.C. The Spartans led by as much as 19 points in the second half before the Bulldogs closed the gap to within two in the latter stages of the second half.
Johnson totaled 20 points on the night with seven rebounds and three assists. Hawkins stuffed the stat sheet with 19 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals, while Goode added 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting. Darryl Palmer had a double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds to lead S.C. State.
Series History: This will mark the first-ever meeting between NSU and UMBC.
About UMBC: The Retrievers are led by Ryan Cook, who averages team best with 17.4 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. Chase Plummer also scores in double figures at 12.6 points, while Brett Roseboro (9.6) and Brian Neller (8.2) also chip in on offense. Aaron Morgan leads the way with 4.1 assists. UMBC, which lost in double overtime in its last game against American on Thursday at home, has given up nearly 75 points a game so far this year.
Spartans Stepping Up: Several players have stepped up their production recently. Rob Johnson (20), Malcolm Hawkins (19) and Brandon Goode (16) all recorded career highs in points at South Carolina State. Kris Brown (13) recorded a career high against Morehead State. Johnson also had a big game, nearly posting his second career double double with 10 points and nine boards. He also added career highs of six assists and four steals.
Then against St. Francis Brooklyn, Jamel Fuentes topped his career high with 18 points. Brown (12) came up one point short of tying his career high as well but did reach double figures for the second time in his career.
Johnson Named Defensive Player of the Week: Rob Johnson earned MEAC Defensive Player of the Week honors on Dec. 3 after posting 6.3 rebounds and 2.7 steals in three games the previous week.
Back From Injury: Pendarvis Williams sat out two games while resting a sore knee and then came back against Savannah State with a vengeance. He added a game-high 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting and hit a pair of treys late in the game to extend NSU's lead to what turned out to be an insurmountable eight-point advantage.
Good From the Line: Pendarvis Williams came into the week ranked 35th in the nation with a 91.3 free throw shooting percentage. He currently is hitting 92.0 percent of his charity stripe attempts on the year (23-of-25).
Fuentes on Fire: Jamel Fuentes handed out 11 assists at Morehead State, the most since Aleek Pauline had 11 at Coppin State on Jan. 31, 2011. Fuentes followed that up with a 10-assist effort against St. Francis Brooklyn. The last time an NSU player had two straight games with 10 or more assists occurred Jan. 25 and 27, 1992, when Marcus Whitfield had 10 in back-to-back games.
Pressure Defense: NSU's pressure defense on Dec. 1 against Savannah State, which consistently double-teamed the Savannah State player with the ball, limited the Tigers to just 17 second half points. It marked the fewest NSU gave up in a half since allowing 12 in the first half against Randolph on Nov. 16, 2011. The last time the Spartans gave up 17 or fewer points in a half against a Division I team was on Feb. 4, 2006, when NSU held Howard to just 17 points in the first half.
No Halftime Lead? No Problem: The Spartans have had a halftime lead just twice so far this year, both coming in wins over Longwood and South Carolina State. NSU has overcome halftime deficits of five points (Rhode Island), one (St. Francis Brooklyn) and three (Savannah State) this year.
The MEAC Leaderboard: Several players have cracked the top 5 in the MEAC statistics, including Pendarvis Williams, who ranks second in free throw percentage at 92.0. Brandon Goode sits third in field goal shooting at 62.1 percent, while Rashid Gaston ranks fourth in offensive rebounds with 3.2 per game. NSU ranks second as a team with 14.2 offensive boards per game.
March to 1,000: Now with 764 career points, Pendarvis Williams needs just 236 more to become NSU's 30th all-time 1,000-point scorer. He is on course to accomplish the feat in late February.
O'Quinn's NBA Debut: Selected with the 49th overall pick in the Draft by the Orlando Magic, Kyle O'Quinn made his NBA debut on Nov. 2 against the Denver Nuggets, grabbing one rebound in a little more than three minutes of action. He scored his first career points two days later against the Phoenix Suns with a pair of free throws.
O'Quinn hit his first career field goal and scored six points all-together with five rebounds and two assists in a loss against the Spurs on Nov. 28. In his most recent game, he scored six points with two rebounds and two blocks in an Orlando win at the Lakers on Dec. 2.
