Box Score NORFOLK, Va. – Down by two at the break, Boston University opened the second half on a 21-4 run, and the Norfolk State men's basketball team was unable to completely overcome that hole in a 71-63 loss on Wednesday night at Joseph Echols Hall.
 
The Spartans got career nights from their two Division I transfers, Jeff Short and Malik Thomas, as each posted career highs in points. The duo accounted for 47 of the team's 63 points in the non-conference matchup with the Terriers.
 
A close first half saw eight lead changes and six tied scores, and the Spartans had a two-point edge at halftime. Short had 17 points at the break and finished with 28, surpassing his previous career best of 19 set on Sunday at Virginia. He shot 8-of-19 from the floor and 9-of-10 from the charity stripe to go along with six rebounds.
 
Thomas, facing his former team, posted 19 points on 8-of 15 shooting with a career-best 12 boards. He topped his previous best of 18 points and 10 rebounds set last year while at BU. He and Short also combined for 18 of NSU's 28 rebounds on the night.
 
Down by two at the half, the Terriers (1-1) opened up the second stanza on a 21-4 run to go up by the largest margin of the game, 53-36. Short hit a floater from eight feet out along the right baseline at the 12:35 mark, and he and Thomas began to carry the NSU offense. A putback layup by Thomas eventually cut the deficit to 10, 56-46, with 9:43 to go and capped a 10-3 Spartan run.
 
Freshman Devonte Banner hit 2-of-2 from the charity stripe, and a 3-pointer by a wide-open Thomas near the left wing made it 59-51 with a little more than eight minutes left in the game. Thomas sliced the BU lead to 59-55 with another 3, this one just to the left of the top of the key, prompting a jersey pull celebration by the senior.
 
That four-point deficit was as close as NSU (1-2) could get. The Terriers scored seven straight points over the next two minutes to essentially put the game away, as BU led by at least eight in the last five minutes of the game. Short and Thomas combined for 21 of the team's 29 second-half points.
 
The Terriers hit 21-of-42 (50 percent) for the game while holding the Spartans to 20-of-52 shooting (38.5 percent). John Papele led BU with 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting, which included a 5-of-9 effort from the 3-point line.
 
Cedric Hankerson added 16 points, seven assists, four rebounds and three steals, with Nathan Dieudonne (11 points, 10 rebounds) and Justin Alston (13 points) also reaching double figures for BU.
 
Thomas hit a pair of jumpers from the left side of the court to stake NSU to an early 8-2 lead to start the game. The Terriers then went on an 11-3 run to pull ahead, 13-11, seven and a half minutes into the contest. Short drained a 3-pointer from the left wing after a pair of nice passes from Banner and Thomas, putting the Spartans back up by three, 16-13, with 10:42 to go in the half.
 
Short continued to light up the scoreboard, hitting a pair of long jumpers and then a trey from the left corner for a 27-24 lead with about four minutes left. He sank back-to-back free throws and then another 3-pointer 20 seconds later for a five-point edge, 34-29, with 1:22 to go. The Terriers cut the deficit to 34-32 heading into intermission.
 
Senior LaTre'e Russell added seven points to the Spartan scoring effort.
 
The Terriers connected on 9-of-21 (42.9 percent) from long range for the game, while NSU shot just 5-of-23 (21.7 percent). The Spartans did have a 21-13 edge in points off turnovers, as BU finished the game with 17 giveaways.
 
NSU will host Texas Southern on Saturday at 5 p.m. at Echols Hall.