Box Score NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State men's basketball team overcame the absence of forward Rashid Gaston and foul trouble from three of its other big men Sunday afternoon in an 83-66 victory over UMBC at Joseph Echols Hall.

The Spartans offense pushed the pace of the game for almost the entire contest before NSU got into foul trouble late in the game. The trio of Brandon Goode, Riley Maye and #A.J. Rogers# all had five of NSU's 27 team fouls in the game, forcing the Spartans to play numerous different and smaller lineups than usual.

NSU was also without its leading rebounder, Gaston, who was unavailable for the contest. Nevertheless, the Spartans won their fourth in a row after shooting 54 percent for the game (27-of-50) and better than 50 percent in both halves. NSU had 19 assists on those 27 baskets.

The trio of Malcolm Hawkins, Pendarvis Williams and Rob Johnson paced the offense for NSU (6-5). Hawkins had a career-high 20 points on 6-of-9 shooting, while Williams added 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

Both players hit 3-of-5 from beyond the arc to help NSU finish 9-of-15 (60 percent) from long range for the game. The Retrievers, meanwhile, failed on all 16 of their attempts from long range.

Johnson added 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting, including two 3-pointers, and was key for NSU on the glass with 11 rebounds, all on the defensive side. The Retrievers (2-8) out-rebounded the Spartans by a 43-37 margin, including 21-5 on the offensive side of the ball. UMBC held a 20-4 edge in second-chance points.

Ryan Cook, UMBC's leading scorer, had a game-high 22 points on 7-of-20 shooting.

Hawkins buried a 3-pointer from the left corner to help give the Spartans an early 9-3 lead, and Johnson nailed a step-back jumper from the right baseline to make it 13-5 at the 13:30 mark. Hawkins completed a four-point play less than 20 seconds later, and sophomore Paulius Vinogradovas scored his first career points for a 20-9 Spartan lead with 11:57 on the clock.

Hawkins stepped into a trey to start a quick 7-1 Spartan run, which was capped by another 3-pointer from Williams for a 36-20 edge. The Spartans went up by as much as 17, 41-24, with 3:08 left when Johnson and junior Kievyn Lila-St. Rose connected on back-to-back possessions. UMBC held NSU to without a field goal the last three minutes of play, but the Spartans still went into the half holding a 13-point advantage, 42-29.

NSU hit 7-of-9 from the 3-point line in the first stanza and 13-of-25 (52.0 percent) overall from the field.

A pair of baskets from UMBC big man Brett Roseboro cut the deficit to single digits early in the second half before Johnson drained another 3-pointer to get the Spartan lead back into double figures. After Johnson hit another baseline jumper at the 14:24 mark for a 14-point lead, the Retrievers used a 9-2 run over the next three minutes to get to within seven, 55-48.

It marked the closest UMBC got to the Spartans since the start of the game. Unfortunately for the Retrievers, it was also as close as they got the rest of the way.

That was because a trey from Williams started an 11-2 run that pushed the NSU lead to 16, 66-50. Cook completed a 3-point play at 8:14 to end that Spartan spurt, and Roseboro's tip-in and Chase Plummer's layup from underneath the basket with 4:39 left made it 70-60.

NSU made 4-of-6 from the floor and 5-of-6 from the foul line the rest of the way to ice the win.

Junior Jamel Fuentes added nine assists, seven points, four rebounds and three steals for NSU.

Roseboro added 12 points and six rebounds for the Retrievers. Plummer tallied eight points and a game-high 14 boards.

NSU will head out to play at No. 13 Illinois Tuesday at 8 p.m. EST on ESPN3.