Saturday
Navy at NSU, 5 p.m., Joseph Echols Hall
Radio: WNSB Hot 91.1 (Ross Gordon Play-by-Play) | Listen Live
Live Stats | Live Video | Game Notes
NORFOLK, Va. - The last non-conference game of the season also brings the Norfolk State men's basketball team back to its home court for the first time in 26 days on Saturday for a 5 p.m. matchup with Navy at Joseph Echols Hall.
All active military who show their ID can get in for $8.
Media Coverage: The game can be heard live on WNSB Hot 91.1, with Ross Gordon on the call. Live stats and a live video stream will also be available for the game. The video feed will carry the WNSB play-by-play commentary with it.
Last Time Out: Majok Majok's dunk right before the buzzer gave Ball State a 62-61 victory over NSU on Wednesday, erasing what had been a big second half comeback for the Spartans. With less than 12 minutes remaining, NSU began a 20-3 run to erase a 12-point deficit. Ball State grabbed a one-point lead with 58 seconds left. The Spartans earned it back, though, with a pair of free throws from Rob Johnson with five seconds to go, but the Cardinals went up the floor on the inbounds pass for the last-second score.
Johnson led the Spartans with 16 points and seven boards, while Malcolm Hawkins and Pendarvis Williams chipped in with 15 and 14 points, respectively. Kievyn Lila-St. Rose added 11 points for his first career double-digit scoring effort. NSU's usually stout 3-point field goal defense was torched to the tune of 12-of-21 shooting by the Cardinals.
Series History: This will mark just the second all-time meeting between NSU and Navy after the Spartans picked up a 71-65 victory over the Midshipmen last year in Annapolis, Md.
About Navy: The Midshipmen own a 6-9 record and have dropped their last three, including a 68-63 setback at IPFW on Wednesday. Tilman Dunbar and Brandon Venturini lead the way with 10.7 and 10.0 points per game, respectively, for an offense that scores just 59.6 a game but also gives up only 57.9. Dunbar also averages a team-best 5.4 assists, while Worth Smith leads the way with 5.5 rebounds, 18 blocks and 17 steals to go with 9.3 points per contest. Navy shoots 42.9 percent from the floor and 36.8 percent from 3-point range but has been out-rebounded by nearly four boards a game.
Breaking Out of a Slump: Pendarvis Williams has scored in double figures in five of the last six games after failing to do so in three of the previous four. He's averaged 14.7 points and 5.3 boards over the last three games alone.
Also breaking out of a slump at Ball State was Rob Johnson, who posted 16 points after failing to score more than eight in the previous four games. Kievyn Lila-St. Rose scored 11 against the Cardinals, marking his career high as well.
Although he struggled against Ball State, Rashid Gaston has been named the MEAC Rookie of the Week two of the last three weeks. During that time, the freshman averaged 12.0 points per game over a four-contest span from Dec. 11-Dec. 29 after failing to get into double figures in the previous six games. Gaston also leads the team in rebounding (6.7), and half of his total rebounds this year (50-of-100) have come on the offensive glass.
The Rebounding Edge: After getting out-rebounded by an average of 11.0 boards over the previous four games, NSU has come out on the positive side of the rebounding margin against both East Carolina (39-35) and Ball State (36-28).
The MEAC, NCAA Leaderboard: Several players have cracked the top 5 in the MEAC statistics, including Pendarvis Williams and Jamel Fuentes. Williams ranks first in free throw percentage at 90.9, and Fuentes ranks first in assists (5.8) and second in assist-turnover ratio (2.1). Fuentes also sits 25th in the nation in assists per game.
Rashid Gaston ranks third in offensive rebounds with 3.3 per game, and Rob Johnson sits fourth in defensive rebounds (4.6). The Spartans rank third in 3-point field goal percentage (33.0).
March to 1,000: Now with 828 career points, Pendarvis Williams needs just 172 more to become NSU's 30th all-time 1,000-point scorer. He is on course to accomplish the feat late in the season.
Good From the Line: Pendarvis Williams ranks first in the MEAC and had been in the top 20 in the nation in free throw shooting before dropping out of the rankings because of a lack of attempts. So far this year, Williams is hitting 90.9 percent of his charity stripe attempts (30-of-33).
