Box Score 2013 MEAC Tournament Bracket

NORFOLK, Va. – Norfolk State was not going to be denied its place in history on Senior Night, and the Spartan men's basketball team did not disappoint on Thursday evening at Joseph Echols Hall.

NSU secured just the fourth-ever undefeated conference season in the history of the MEAC with a 55-48 victory over North Carolina A&T. The Spartans became the first MEAC school to accomplish the feat since Coppin State did so in back-to-back seasons in 1992-93 and 1993-94.

The victory ran the team's record to 21-10 overall and was the 15th straight win, the longest win streak for the Spartans since a 19-game run in the 1989-90 season. It also stands as the second-longest current win streak in the nation after Louisiana Tech fell to New Mexico State on Thursday night.

Only Middle Tennessee State, at 16, has a longer win streak than NSU.

With the No. 1 seed in the MEAC tournament, NSU will play at 6 p.m. on Wednesday against the winner of the first round game between the No. 8 and No. 9 seeds.

NSU clinched its first regular season conference title since sharing first place in the CIAA Northern Division in 1989 with Virginia Union and its first outright title since 1987. Only Gonzaga and Memphis have gone undefeated in their conference this year, with Memphis still set to play one more game before its conference tournament.

The Aggies (15-16, 8-8 MEAC) made NSU sweat at the start, however, pulling out to a six-point lead early in the game before NSU took it back later in the half. The Spartans, up by three at the break, saw their advantage get cut down to one on three different occasions at the start of the second half.

An 11-3 run quickly erased that threat, and then after the Aggies cut it back down to six with exactly 10 minutes left, a 9-0 run for NSU gave the Spartan an insurmountable 15-point lead with less than five minutes remaining.

Senior Rob Johnson and junior Pendarvis Williams combined to score 19 points in the second half, as the duo carried NSU throughout the game. Johnson scored in double figures for the first time in six games, finishing with 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting with a team-high eight boards.

Williams added 16 points on 6-of-10 shots with five rebounds and two assists. No other Spartan had more than six points in the contest.

Bruce Beckford (16 points, nine rebounds) and Jean Louisme (13 points, five boards) led the way for the Aggies, who shot just 31.6 percent for the game on 18-of-57 shooting. NSU finished a respectable 20-of-45 (44.4 percent).

A&T jumped out to a 7-2 lead to start the game before Johnson was able to get the kind roll on a long jumper. After A&T turned it over at halfcourt, Johnson went in for the fastbreak dunk to cut the deficit to one, 10-9, with 12:23 to go in the first half.

Freshman Rashid Gaston gave the Spartans their first lead of the game when he backed his defender down low for an easy two. Williams then nailed a 3-pointer in the left corner off a screen and a short jumper to start a 7-0 run for NSU for a 21-15 advantage. The Aggies tied it up at 21-21 three minutes later before Johnson hit a 3-pointer with time running down to give NSU a 24-21 lead heading into the half.

Louisme led all scorers with 12 at the half, while Johnson added nine for the Spartans.

A&T came right back in the second half, though, using a pair of 3-point plays to get to within one of the Spartans. The latter at 15:00, when Beckford made the and-1, made it 30-29 in favor of NSU.

NSU went on an 11-3 run from there, capped by a layup from Johnson with 10:59 to go. Up 41-32 at that point, the Spartans saw their lead drop down to six a minute later. The Aggies, though, had to call timeout in the middle of a 9-0 NSU run when Williams drained a long 2-pointer with 6:47 left.

Johnson then drained a long 2-pointer of his own from the right wing with 4:28 to go to finish that run and put the Spartans up by 15, 50-35. Beckford scored the last seven points of the game to cut the final deficit to single digits.

North Carolina A&T, in fact, was the only other school to go undefeated in the MEAC aside from Coppin State, accomplishing the feat in 1987-88.

NSU also finished up the year 11-0 at home, the first undefeated regular season for the Spartans since 1988-89 and the first full undefeated season at home, including postseason play, since 1970-71. NSU won its 12 straight home game on Thursday night, the longest such win streak since a 12-game stretch between the 1993-94 and 1994-95 seasons.

Junior Brandon Goode finished with six points and four blocks. A&T held a 36-30 advantage on the boards, and NSU had just two offensive rebounds the entire night. NSU forced 19 Aggie turnovers and held a 19-9 advantage in points off turnovers.