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Pendarvis Williams
Mark Sutton

Men's Basketball Matt Michalec, SID

Williams, O’Quinn Propel NSU to MEAC Tournament Win over Howard

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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Pendarvis Williams scored a game-high 22 points, and Kyle O'Quinn added 18 points and nine rebounds to lead No. 2 seed Norfolk State to a 71-61 win over No. 10 Howard on Wednesday night in the MEAC Tournament quarterfinals at Lawrence Joel Memorial Coliseum.

The Spartans (23-9) advance to an 8 p.m. Friday semifinal against the winner of Thursday's Delaware State-Florida A&M game.

NSU rode a torrid first-half shooting performance to a big early lead, then had to fight off a game rally from the Bison (10-21) in the second half to eliminate Howard from the tournament for the second straight year.

NSU, which never trailed, hit 56.5 percent from the floor in the first half, including 67 percent from behind the 3-point line (6-of-9) to jump on the Bison. Williams hit his first four shots from the floor, three from behind the arc. But it was a flurry from O'Quinn that helped the Spartans mount their lead. He scored 12 points in an 18-0 NSU run that turned a 15-14 Spartan lead into a 33-14 bulge. Williams and Chris McEachin also hit 3-pointers in the spurt.

The Spartans led by as many as 19 points in the first period, but Howard closed to within 36-26 heading into the break on a 3-pointer from Glen Andrews and a free throw by Calvin Thompson.

Marcos Tamares scored the first three points of the second half to give NSU a 13-point lead, but the Bison rallied. The trio of Andrews, Thompson and Sim Frazier combined for 26 second-half points, many on long jumpers. Andrews capped a 10-2 Howard spurt with a deep trey to tie the game at 54-all with 6:47 left.

But Tamares started a 9-0 NSU run with two free throws. Williams then hit a triple, O'Quinn went 1-of-2 from the line, and Williams buried another 3-pointer to push NSU's lead back to nine, 63-54, with 4:07 left. The Bison couldn't get close than six the rest of the way.

Williams was 7-of-9 from the floor, 5-of-7 from 3-point range, and 3-of-3 from the line for NSU, which shot 57 percent for the game. O'Quinn was 7-of-10 from the floor and also blocked two shots. Tamares was the third Spartan in double figures, with 13 points. Rob Johnson added eight off the bench.

Andrews tallied 21 points, Frazier 14 and Thompson 11 for Howard, which hit 52 percent from the floor in the second half.

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