Norfolk State Men's Basketball
Saturday, Dec. 13; 2 p.m.
NSU at Mount St. Mary's, Knott Arena
Radio: Star 1310 AM, Live Audio | Hot 91.1 FM, Live Audio
Live Video | Live Stats | Game Notes

NORFOLK, Va. - Following a pair of home conference victories in which they averaged more than 86 points per game, the Norfolk State men's basketball team will hit the road looking to keep the offense in high gear. The Spartans take on Mount St. Mary's Saturday at 2 p.m. at Knott Arena in the second game of a home-and-home series.

Media Coverage
The game will be broadcast live on Star 1310 AM as well as Hot 91.1 FM with Ross Gordon on the call. Live audio is available through the Star 1310 website as well as through the Hot 91.1 website. Both feeds are available on smartphones through the Star 1310 website or through www.TuneIn.com or the TuneIn Radio App (search for "WNSB") for Hot 91.1.

Fans can also follow along with the live stats and the live video feed.

Series History
Mount St. Mary's won last year's meeting 104-84 in Norfolk to tie the all-time series at 2-2. The first three meetings, though, came during the programs' Division II days in the South Atlantic Regional of the NCAA playoffs. NSU won in back-to-back years, 78-75 on March 8, 1986 (at Mount St. Mary's) and 70-66 on March 7, 1987 (at Joseph Echols Hall), both in the regional final. Mount St. Mary's won the first-ever meeting, 95-80, on March 7, 1969 in the first round of the regional at the Norfolk State College Gymnasium.

About Mount St. Mary's
The Mountaineers own a 2-5 overall record this year, which includes a home loss against MEAC school UMES on Nov. 19, 53-41. Mount St. Mary's scores just 59 points per game while giving up 74. Byron Ashe and Krajina Kristijan each score 8.7 points per game to lead the way, with Gregory Graves (7.1 points, team-leading 5.4 rebounds) and Chris Martin (7.4 points) right behind them. The Mountaineers have been outrebounded by seven boards a game, and opponents are also shooting better than 53 percent overall and 44 percent from beyond the arc.

Last Time Out
D'Shon Taylor and RaShid Gaston each had double-doubles to lead Norfolk State to an 88-69 win over Coppin State on Monday night at Echols Hall. Taylor had a career-high 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting with 10 rebounds, while Gaston contributed 19 points on 9-of-13 field goals and 13 rebounds. Not to be outdone, Jeff Short added 20 points on 6-of-12 shooting, helping NSU finish 33-of-63 (52.4 percent) overall for the game. The Spartans also connected on 11-of-22 from beyond the arc and had a 49-33 edge on the glass. CSU cut a 14-point first-half deficit to just five at the break, and then two early in the second half. The Spartans answered with a 14-3 run and led by as much as 21 as the game wore on.

Player Tidbits
RaShid Gaston
 • Averaging 19.0 points on 40-54 FG with 11.0 rebounds and 2.2 assists last 5 games
 • 10th career double-double, and fifth straight, with 19 points and 13 rebounds vs. Coppin State
 • Ranks 1st in the MEAC in field goal % (65.0), 2nd in scoring (15.5), rebounding (8.6) and offensive rebounds (3.4), 6th in defensive rebounds (5.3) and tied for 7th in blocks (1.0)
 • Stands 8th in the nation in double-doubles (5) and 12th in field goal % (65.0); Also ranks in offensive rebounds (44, 3.38), rebounding (58, 8.6), defensive rebounds (122, 5.25) and scoring (168, 15.5)
 • Ranks 9th in NSU records with a .553 career shooting percentage

Jeff Short
 • Averaging 19.8 points, 36-64 FG, 12-27 3-Pt, 15-18 FT, 4.0 rebounds and 1.8 assists last 5 games
 • 4th 20-point game of season with 20 vs. Coppin State
 • Shot 9-of-10 from the floor vs. Morgan State, the third-best individual percentage for a game in NSU D-I history
 • Ranks 1st in the MEAC in scoring (17.3), 2nd in free throw % (89.5), tied for 3rd in 3-point field goals (2.3), 4th in 3-point field goal % (41.8), 6th in minutes (32.7) and 9th in field goal % (47.2)
 • 39th in the nation in free-throw percentage (89.5); Also ranks in scoring (80, 17.3), 3-point field goals per game (147, 2.30), field goal percentage (177, 47.2) and minutes (193, 32:42)

Jamel Fuentes
 • 5.8 assists last 5 games
 • Ranks 2nd in the MEAC in assists (5.1) and assist-turnover ratio (2.0)
 • Stands 60th in the nation in assists (5.1) and 147th in assist-turnover ratio (2.00)
 • Ranks 11th in NCAA Division I in career assists (460), 14th in assist-turnover ratio (1.91), 46th 47th in assist average (4.22) and 50th in games played (109)
 • Ranks third all-time at NSU in assists with 460 and first among D-I players; Needs 43 more to move into second place
 • Stands tied for 16th in career steals (126)

Malik Thomas
 • Tied career high with five assists vs. Coppin State
 • 18.3 points, 8.0 rebounds, 28-of-47 field goals, 8-20 3-pointers in 4 games from Nov. 19-28

D'Shon Taylor
 • Ranks 3rd in the MEAC in 3-point field goal % (41.9)
 • Career high 24 points vs. Coppin State, including 19 in 2nd half; 2nd double-double of season with 10 boards
 • 16.5 points, 19-of-39 field goals, 25-32 free throws, 5.0 rebounds in 4 games from Nov. 22-29

Jordan Butler
 • Ranks tied for 7th in the MEAC in blocks (1.0)

Zaynah Robinson
 • Career highs of eight points, four rebounds and two steals vs. Coppin State

Good Shootin'
NSU hit 31-of-49 (63.3 percent) against Morgan State, the third-highest percentage in the program's Division I history. The D-I record is 65.7 percent (23-of-35) set against Eastern Kentucky on Nov. 27, 2011, while NSU also shot 64.2 percent (34-of-53) at Coppin State on Jan. 10, 2009. The all-time program record is 69.0 percent (29-of-42), accomplished at Shaw on Feb. 3, 1988.

NSU hit better than 60 percent in both halves against the Bears, the first time shooting better than even 50 percent in both halves since a loss to Mount St. Mary's on Jan. 3, 2014. Since the 2002-03 season, NSU has shot better than 60 percent in both stanzas in three games, including the wins over Morgan State and Eastern Kentucky and last year's victory over Stillman.

NSU followed that up by hitting at least 50 percent in both halves in the win over Coppin State. The Spartans are currently shooting a combined 64-of-112 (57.1 percent) over the last two games and 51.9 percent over the last five contests.

Nice Wins
The 20-point win over Morgan State ranks as the biggest victory against the Bears since an 81-53 triumph on Jan. 16, 2006, a span of 17 games. The 19-point victory against Coppin State was the largest since the first-ever meting, a 77-56 win on Nov. 29, 1982, a span of 34 games. The Spartans also scored the most points in a regulation contest against Morgan State in 29 games and the most against Coppin State in a regulation game in 32. The 88 points scored against MSU were the most since a 91-87 win over Florida A&M on Dec. 5, 2013.

NSU had 33 field goals and 11 3-pointers against Coppin State. It marked the most since having 41 field goals against Stillman on Nov. 26, 2013 and 12 3-pointers against North Carolina Central on March 6, 2014. The Spartans also shot 82.6 percent from the foul line, the best since hitting 84.6 percent (11-of-13) at Hawai'i on Dec. 30, 2013.

Jeff Short (24) and RaShid Gaston (20) both reached the 20-point plateau against the Bears, and D'Shon Taylor (24) and Short (20) did so versus the Eagles. They marked the first time NSU teammates scored 20 points in a contest since the victory over Stillman last year, when Pendarvis Williams (32) and Brandon Goode (22) both scored over 20. It is also the first time NSU had two 20-point performances in back-to-back games since Feb. 20 and 25, 2012 against Longwood and Bethune-Cookman.

Winning the Rebounding Battle
The Spartans have had the rebounding edge in the last seven contests, eight of the 10 games this year, and in 19 of the last 22 games dating back to last season. NSU is a collective +57 in rebounding margin over the last seven games alone, including a +15 effort against Morgan State and a +16 effort against Coppin State. On the season, the Spartans have a +5.1 rebounding margin.

NSU had 49 rebounds against Coppin State, the most since grabbing 50 against North Carolina A&T on March 3, 2011.

Balanced Scoring?
NSU has four players averaging double figures, including leading scorer Jeff Short (17.3) along with RaShid Gaston (15.5), Malik Thomas (13.0) and D'Shon Taylor (12.1). After those four, though, the next highest scorer is Malik Gray at 2.9 points. Six players having tallied between 1.9 and 2.9 points per contest. A year after losing nearly 80 percent of its scoring from its senior class, NSU is now getting 79.3 percent of its scoring (548-of-691 points) from just four players.

MEAC Rankings
The Spartans rank No. 1 in the MEAC in both opponent rebounding (30.5) and defensive rebound percentage (72.0). They also stand second in scoring offense (69.1), scoring margin (+3.1), field goal percentage (44.9), 3-point field goal percentage (36.2), rebound margin (+5.1), assists (13.6) and assist-turnover ratio (1.0).

Doubling Up
The Spartans have had nine double-double performances in the last eight games. RaShid Gaston has posted five straight, including a career-high 28 points with 10 rebounds at Hofstra (Dec. 2), 20 points and 12 rebounds against Morgan State (Dec. 6) and 19 points and 13 boards against Coppin State (Dec. 8) in the last three games. It marked the first time an NSU player had five straight double-doubles since Kyle O'Quinn had seven straight from Nov. 16-Dec. 3, 2011. Since the 2002-03 season, only O'Quinn and Gaston have had at least five straight double-doubles.

D'Shon Taylor added 24 points and 10 rebounds against Coppin State as well, marking the first time NSU teammates had double-doubles in the same game since Rob Johnson and Kyle O'Quinn did so against Hampton on Jan. 21, 2012. That was also the last time NSU had two teammates reach double figurs in rebounds.

Specialty Stats
NSU has outscored the other team by an average of 7.7 more points in the paint (29.4-21.7). The Spartans have outscored their last four opponents 134-78 in that category. On the year, NSU has outscored eight of its 10 opponents in points in the paint, including the last seven.

On the other side, opponents have made more 3-pointers in seven of NSU's 10 games.

NSU is also outscoring opponents by an average of 16.4-14.8 in points off turnovers and 10.4-9.1 in second-chance points. In addition, the Spartans are also averaging 8.0 fastbreak points over the last five games.

Free Throwing
The Spartans finished with their best free throw percentage in 10 years last year at 69.3, the best mark since the 2003-04 campaign (72.0 percent). So far in 2014-15, NSU is connecting on 69.3 percent of its attempts from the charity stripe.

Better After the Break
NSU has scored more points in the second half than the first half in six of the last seven games.

Opponents have shot a collective 114-of-249 (45.8 percent) in the first half but 102-of-258 (39.5 percent) in the second half and overtime this season.

Nationally Ranked
The Spartans rank 81st in the nation in rebounding margin (+5.1) as well as in the top 160 in 3-point field goal percentage (109, 36.2), field goal percentage (119, 44.9), assists (131, 13.6), win-loss percentage (148, 60.0) and free throw percentage (151, 69.3).

Ahead at the Half
The Spartans are 58-8 since the start of the 2011-12 season when leading or tied at the half. They also have two wins this year when trailing at the half after winning just one game last year.

O'Quinn's NBA Season
Kyle O'Quinn is back for his third season with the Orlando Magic after being drafted in the second round in 2012. NSU's first NBA player in 25 years, O'Quinn averaged 4.1 points and 3.7 rebounds per game during his rookie campaign in 2012-13 and 6.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.3 blocks and 1.1 assists per game in 2013-14. He missed 15 games this year after injuring his ankle in the season opener. He's averaging 9.7 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.3 blocks in nine games this season, including a 21-point, 11-rebound effort at Golden State on Dec. 2.

Spartans in the Pros
Aside from Kyle O'Quinn, NSU has three other former players competing professionally. Both Pendarvis Williams and Michael Deloach are currently in Italy, while Malcolm Hawkins is competing in Lithuania. Williams is averaging 16.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game for Moncada Solar Agrigento of the A2 Gold league, while Deloach is tallying 14.3 points, 5.5 assists and 3.7 rebounds per contest for Liomatic Viola Reggio Calabria of the A2 Silver league. Hawkins recently joined Jazz-Diremta Kaunas, where he's averaging 19.5 points and 4.5 rebounds in six games.