Box Score NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State men's basketball team clinched at least a share of its first-ever MEAC regular season title and also locked up the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament Monday night with a 69-58 victory over Florida A&M at Joseph Echols Hall.

The Spartans won their 14th straight game and improved to 15-0 in MEAC play and 20-10 overall, the second-straight season NSU has reached the 20-win plateau. As the No. 1 seed, NSU will now play at 6 p.m. on March 13 in the quarterfinal round of the conference tournament at Scope Arena.

In addition, NSU has guaranteed itself a postseason berth. The regular season MEAC champion earns an automatic bid to the NIT if it fails to capture the conference tournament title. The Spartans can win the regular season title outright with a win over North Carolina A&T on Thursday or a loss by North Carolina Central, currently 14-1 in the MEAC.

NSU started and finished the game against FAMU well, but in between the Rattlers made it interesting, getting to within one early in the second half after the Spartans had been up by as much as 18 in the first. Up by just four with less than nine minutes remaining, though, NSU used a 9-0 run to take a 13-point lead, and Florida A&M got no closer than eight the rest of the way.

Freshman Rashid Gaston, named MEAC Rookie of the Week earlier in the day, had a big game for the Spartans. The first-year player set a new career high with 20 points on 8-of-12 shots and tallied his second straight double-double with 10 boards.

Once again, junior Pendarvis Williams also played a big part in the victory, going for 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting with eight rebounds. Junior Brandon Goode was the only other player in double figures, going for 10 points, seven rebounds and three blocks.

NSU finished the game with a shooting percentage of 49.1 on 28-of-57 shots while holding the Rattlers to just 31.4 percent shooting on 22-of-70.

The 15-0 start in conference play stands as the second-best ever start after the 1986-87 team went 19-0 in the CIAA. NSU's 14-game win streak ties the 1994-95 squad for the longest win streak in the last 22 years.

Jamie Adams led Florida A&M with 13 points, all in the first half when he shot 5-of-8 to help the Rattlers erase an 18-point deficit.

The Rattlers found themselves there after NSU had jumped all over them early on, building a 13-5 lead thanks to a slump-busting eight points from senior Rob Johnson. Five points from Gaston and a pair of fastbreaks from senior Kris Brown highlighted an 11-2 run that eventually pushed the lead to the largest of the game, 26-8, with 9:48 left.

Adams hit a deep 3-pointer from the right wing to break that Spartan scoring streak and start a 10-0 run for the Rattlers. Goode finally ended the drought for NSU with a 3-point play at 5:33. However, after the Spartans went up by 13, 31-18, 30 seconds later thanks to another basket by Goode, FAMU ended the half on an 11-2 run. The Rattlers went into the break trailing by just four, 33-29.

Florida A&M quickly cut the deficit to one, 34-33, when Markee Teal had the ball slapped away but bounce right back to him off the backboard for an easy two. The Spartans eventually went up by nine, 48-39, when Williams came off a screen for a trey from the left corner and then finished a 3-point play on the next possession.

The Rattlers chipped away at the lead, getting to within four at 53-49 with 8:28 left after a layup from Walter Davis. Williams hit another 3-pointer and then sank a fadeaway baseline jumper for a 60-49 advantage at the 6:29 mark. Junior Marese Phelps finished a 3-point play, and Gaston sank another bucket with 2:14 left to put NSU up by 13 with a little more than two minutes to go.

Despite having numerous opportunities late in the game thanks to its offensive rebounding, Florida A&M was unable to get any closer than eight points in the last seven minutes of the contest.

FAMU had 23 offensive boards to NSU's 13 but still trailed in second-chance points, 19-16. The Spartans overcame 16 turnovers but finally found a rhythm at the free throw line, hitting 13-of-16 (76.9 percent). NSU had a 42-28 advantage in points in the paint.

Reggie Lewis was the only other player in double figures for FAMU with 12. Teal (eight points, nine rebounds) and Davis (eight and eight) also chipped in.

NSU will finish out the regular season Thursday at 8 p.m. against North Carolina A&T at home for Senior Night. A victory over the Aggies will give the Spartans their first undefeated regular season in the MEAC and the conference's first undefeated team since Coppin State in 1993-94.