Norfolk State Men's Basketball
Monday, Jan. 12; 7:30 p.m.
NSU at Bethune-Cookman, Moore Gym
Radio: Star 1310 AM, Live Audio | Hot 91.1 FM, Live Audio
Live Video | Live Stats | Game Notes

NORFOLK, Va. - After restarting MEAC play with a resounding win over Florida A&M on Saturday, the Norfolk State men's basketball team will close out a stretch of six straight road games with a Monday evening contest at Bethune-Cookman. The Spartans will complete the two game conference Florida road trek at 7:30 p.m. at Moore Gym.

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 the game with the live video stream and the live stats.

Series History
NSU owns a 17-11 edge in the all-time series with Bethune-Cookman after winning last season's matchup by a 59-45 score in Norfolk. It marked just the third time in the last 12 games against the Wildcats that the score was decided by more than seven points.

About Bethune-Cookman
The Wildcats fell to Hampton by a 58-56 score on Saturday at home to drop to 0-2 in the MEAC and 4-12 overall. Eight of their 12 losses have been by 10 points or less. Brandon Stewart has averaged 16.2 points per game in the last five contests after not playing prior to that point. He has made up for the loss of Clemmye Owens, who averaged 15.3 points in the first 12 games of the year. Stewart is joined in the scoring column by Quintin Brewer at 9.5 points with 7.6 rebounds and Mikel Trapp at 9.3 points per contest. Bethune-Cookman averages just 58 points per game but also gives up less than 63 while shooting almost 40 percent overall, including just 30.7 percent from 3-point range.

Last Time Out
Led by the duo of RaShid Gaston and Jeff Short, Norfolk State cruised to a 75-51 win over Florida A&M on Saturday at FAMU's Al Lawson Center. Gaston finished with 26 points and 16 rebounds, while Short added 21 points. They combined to shoot 19-of-24 from the floor. The Spartans led 38-13 at the half, holding the Rattlers to just 4-of-26 (15.4 percent) shooting in that first stanza. NSU hit 29-of-53 (54.7 percent) overall, including 7-of-19 from 3-point range. The Spartans also held a 45-31 edge on the glass, although FAMU had 10 turnovers to 17 for NSU. The Rattlers connected on 20-of-63 (31.7 percent) for the game, while the teams combined to hit 19-of-41 from the foul line.

Player Tidbits
Jeff Short
 • 23.9 points, 56.4 percent shooting, 48.8 percent 3-point shooting and 4.4 rebounds last seven games; Has led the team in scoring six of those seven games
 • Also averaging 22.6 points (56.3 % shooting, 47.3 % 3-point shooting) last 10 games and 21.6 points (54.8 %, 45.2 %) last 13 games
 • Has scored at least 15 points in 13 straight games
 • 10th 20-point game of season with 21 at Florida A&M; Eight 20-point games in last 10 contests
 • Ranks 1st in the MEAC in scoring (19.7) and 3-point field goal percentage (43.6), 2nd in 3-point field goals (2.4), 5th in free throw % (83.9) and field goal % (50.4) and 7th in minutes (33.4)
 • Stands 24th in the nation in scoring (19.7); Also ranks in total points (4, 355), free throw percentage (84, 83.9), field goal percentage (93, 50.4), 3-point field goals per game (99, 2.44) and minutes (158, 33:26)

RaShid Gaston
 • 10 straight games with 10+ rebounds, the most in the NSU Division I era, from Nov. 28-Dec. 30; 12 10+ rebound games in last 13 contests
 • Eight double-doubles in nine games from Nov. 28-Dec. 22
 • Recorded 10th double-double of season with 26 points and 16 boards at Florida A&M; Career high in rebounds and second-most points in a game in his career
 • Most rebounds by an NSU player since Kyle O'Quinn had 16 on Feb. 20, 2012
 • One of 18 players in the nation averaging a double-double on the year
 • Ranks 2nd in the MEAC in rebounds (10.1), offensive rebounds (3.4) and defensive rebounds (6.8), 3rd in field goal % (59.9), 8th in scoring (14.6) and 9th in blocks (1.1)
 • Stands 6th in the nation in double-doubles (10); Also ranks in total rebounds (12, 162), rebounding (14, 10.1), field goal % (16, 59.9), defensive rebounds (21, 6.75), offensive rebounds (33, 3.38), blocks (236, 1.13) and scoring (221, 14.6)
 • Ranks 36th in NCAA Division I in career field goal percentage (.553), 37th in double-doubles (15), and 40th in rebound average (7.3)
 • Stands 9th in NSU records with a .553 career shooting percentage

Jamel Fuentes
 • Averaging 5.5 rebounds last two games
 • Ranks 2nd in the MEAC in assists (4.8) and assist-turnover ratio (2.0)
 • Stands 60th in the nation in assists (4.8) and 120th in assist-turnover ratio (2.00)
 • Ranks 13th in NCAA Division I in career assists (496), 15th in assist-turnover ratio (1.92), 45th in games played (117) and 46th in assist average (4.24)
 • Ranks 3rd all-time at NSU in assists with 496 and 1st among D-I players; Needs seven more to move into second place
 • Stands 14th at NSU in career steals (133); Needs three more to move into 11th place

D'Shon Taylor
 • 45.5 percent on field goals, 45.7 percent on 3-pointers last 10 games
 • Ranks 2nd in the MEAC in 3-point field goal % (40.6), 14th in field goal % (43.2) and 16th in scoring (12.1)

Malik Thomas
 • Ranks 17th in the MEAC in rebounding (5.2) and 27th in scoring (9.9)
 • Tied career high with three blocks at Princeton

Jordan Butler
 • Ranks 7th in the MEAC in blocks (1.3) and 177th in the nation (1.28)
 • Career high seven rebounds at Princeton

Winning Big in the MEAC
NSU defeated Morgan State, Coppin State and Florida A&M by at least 19 points to start the MEAC season this year, the first time the Spartans have won three straight MEAC games by that point spread. In fact, it marked just the second time they won three straight MEAC games by at least 10 points. NSU won its last three regular season MEAC games in 2008-09 by at least 13 points.

Since the start of the 2011-12 season, NSU is 43-8 in regular season conference play, tied with North Carolina Central for the best record during that time.

MEAC Standings
Just three games into the conference season, and NSU is one of three teams that has yet to suffer a loss. The Spartans are joined at the top of the standings by North Carolina Central and Hampton, both of whom are also 3-0 this year in the MEAC.

Good Defense
Florida A&M scored just 13 points and shot 15.4 percent from the floor in the first half of its game against Norfolk State on Jan. 10. Since the 2002-13 season, no NSU opponent has shot worse in a half, and only twice has an opponent scored less than 13. Randolph had 12 points in the first half on Nov. 16, 2011, and Coppin State scored 12 in the first half on Jan. 11, 2003.

Road Trekking
The contest against B-CU will wrap up a six-game road trek for the Spartans that started on Dec. 22 at James Madison. They returned from the holiday break to play at Baylor (Dec. 30) and Georgia (Jan. 3). Four times in a seven-day span NSU had to catch a pre-dawn flight traveling back and forth for those two contests. The Spartans also had a late-night drive back after the contest at Princeton on Jan. 6 and another pre-dawn flight on Jan. 9 for the contest against Florida A&M the next day.

After playing four of five games at Echols Hall prior to this six-game road stretch, the Spartans will have gone four weeks between home games. The six-game road trek is the longest for the Spartans since they started the 2012-13 season with seven straight away from home.

Block Party
The Spartans had 10 blocks against Princeton on Jan. 6, the most since tallying 10 against Navy on Jan. 5, 2013. Over the last six contests, the Spartans are averaging 7.8 blocks per game and have outblocked the opposition by a collective 47-20 margin.

Winning the Rebounding Battle
The Spartans have had the rebounding edge in 15 of the 18 games this year. NSU outrebounded 11 straight teams from Nov. 22-Dec. 22 as well as 14 of the last 15 opponents. Dating back to last season, NSU has outrebounded 26 of the last 30 opponents. NSU was a collective +97 in rebounding margin during that 11-game stretch this year, including a +20 effort against U.Va.-Wise. It marked the largest margin for the Spartans since outrebounding Coppin State by 23 on Feb. 2, 2013. On the season, the Spartans have a +5.7 rebounding margin.

MEAC Rankings
The Spartans rank No. 1 in the MEAC in rebounding margin (+5.7) and defensive rebound percentage (71.7). They also stand second in scoring margin (+2.7), field goal percentage (45.3), 3-point field goal percentage (35.0), assists (13.1), assist-turnover ratio (0.9) and defensive rebounds (25.9), as well as third in scoring offense (68.6), opponent rebounding (31.8), offensive rebound percentage (34.9) and blocks (4.9).

NSU is one of two teams in the MEAC with four players in the top 30 in scoring.

On Fire
The Spartans have shot at least 44 percent in 10 of the last 13 contests. NSU's current 45.3 percent clip from the field is a little less than last year's 46.5 shooting percentage, the best since the Spartans connected on 48.1 percent of their shots in 1998-99. The team's current 35.0 percent 3-point shooting is also the best mark since the 1998-99 season, when NSU hit 35.7 percent from long range.

So far this season, the Spartans are 9-1 when they outshoot their opponents from the floor, with the only loss coming in the game at Princeton. NSU is 9-0 this year when outshooting teams from 3-point range.

Get to 20
RaShid Gaston (26) and Jeff Short (21) both reached the 20-point plateau at Florida A&M, the fifth time this season NSU teammates have reached 20 points in a game.

Short (25) and Gaston (20) did so against Northern Arizona, the fourth time in a five-game stretch two players scored 20 or more points. Short and Gaston accomplished the feat against Morgan State (24, 20) and U.Va.-Wise (27, 20), and D'Shon Taylor (24) and Short (20) did the same versus Coppin State.

NSU had a 20-point scorer in 10 straight games from Nov. 28-Dec. 30 and in 14 contests overall this year for a total of 19 20-point games. The 10-game stretch of 20-point performances marked the longest since NSU closed out the 2008-09 season with 11 straight games.

Better After the Break
NSU has scored more points in the second half than the first half in 12 of the last 15 games, and on the season the Spartans are averaging 3.8 more points in the first half than the second.

Specialty Stats
NSU has outscored the other team by an average of 7.0 more points in the paint (30.9-23.9). On the year, NSU has outscored or been even against 15 of its 18 opponents in points in the paint, including 11 straight from Nov. 22-Dec. 22. The Spartans have attempted 99 more shots from inside the 3-point line than opponents on the season.

On the other side, in 13 of NSU's 18 games this year, opponents have made the same amount or more 3-pointers thanks to 89 more attempts on the season.

Doubling Up
The Spartans had 12 double-double performances in a 12-game stretch from Nov. 19-Dec. 22, including five straight from RaShid Gaston from Nov. 28-Dec. 8. NSU has had 14 double-doubles overall this year, including 10 from the junior forward.

Nationally Ranked
The Spartans rank 47th in the nation in rebounding margin (+5.7) as well as in the top 150 in blocks (48, 4.9), defensive rebounds (74, 25.89), field goal percentage (91, 45.3), field goal percentage defense (120, 40.9), offensive rebounds (127, 11.56) and 3-point field goal percentage (142, 35.0).

Ahead at the Half
The Spartans are 61-8 since the start of the 2011-12 season when leading or tied at the half. They also have three wins this year when trailing at the half after winning just one game last year.

Good from 3
Norfolk State has made a 3-pointer in 165 straight games, dating back to a contest at South Carolina State on Jan. 25, 2010, when NSU finished 0-of-17 from 3-point range.